


Chuck vs The Holiday

by ellenscult



Category: Chuck (TV)
Genre: First Time, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-10
Updated: 2010-09-10
Packaged: 2017-10-11 15:49:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/114047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellenscult/pseuds/ellenscult
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Casey's ordered to take some time off and Chuck finally works out what (and who) he wants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted to LiveJournal and FanFiction.net

It was another slow day at the _Buy More_. Thursday morning, and there had been fewer than 10 customers in since the store opened. Big Mike was holed up in his office with a box of pastries. The Greenshirts were engaged in a _Guitar Hero_ tournament, cheering on Morgan and Anna as they riffed through _Stairway to Heaven_ on Expert level, and the Nerd Herders were gathered around a laptop which had an unexpected fund of pornography. So far, so Thursday.

Well, all the Nerd Herders except Chuck, who was in the cage, fixing a broken PC, and all the Greenshirts except Casey, who was in the home theater room talking to General Beckman.

'You're kidding,' Casey said, stony-faced.

'Not in the slightest, Major,' replied the General. 'Joking aside, Human Resources has determined that you haven't taken any leave at all in the past three years. Although you've passed your psych evaluations with flying colors, they're insisting that you take at least fifteen of the forty days you've accumulated in the next month. Something to do with an upcoming audit? Nonetheless, you're relieved of duty.'

'They do know I'm working undercover? A twenty-four hour detail with a clueless asset who is likely to get shot if I take time off? And what about my cover here at the Buy More?'

'I'm sorry, Major, but you're going to have to let Agent Walker look after the Intersect. Tell the _Buy More_ you've been recalled for annual military training. As of now, you're on holiday.' With that, the connection broke, and Casey was left staring at a blank screen.

He growled in disgust. 'What the hell am I supposed to do with a holiday?'

#

Big Mike took the news with equanimity, which is to say that as soon as Casey had left his office, he hollered for Chuck.

'Chuck! You know John Casey, right?'

'Er...'

'He ever mention the military to you?'

'He might have once or twice. Why?'

'Because he's recalled for the next fifteen days. Something about training. You'd better get those Greenshirts working to cover his ass, 'cause he's the best damn salesman on the team, or I'm going to get mighty tetchy. None of them have ever shifted a BeastMaster 6000! I need them to be Casey, you hear me?'

'Loud and clear, Big Mike, loud and clear,' Chuck sighed. He left Big Mike's office wondering just how he was supposed to turn the notoriously slack Greenshirt team into pseudo-Caseys.

He tracked down Casey at an otherwise empty _Orange Orange_, where he had obviously just finished talking with Sarah.

'Casey! What's this about you being recalled for training?'

'Why, gonna miss me?' the agent said, deadpan.

'No! Well, yes, but only in a manly running from danger while you shoot the bad guys kind of way.'

'Good to know.' A spark of anger flashed in Casey's eyes. 'You'll be fine with Walker. And I'm not being recalled, I'm on vacation.'

'You're taking a holiday?' Chuck squeaked.

'That's what I said. Damn paper pushers are getting audited, noticed how much leave I have due. I have to take fifteen days.'

'Oh, man, what I could do in fifteen days off! _Call of Duty_, _Medal of Honor_ \- no, wait, I have it! _Diablo Three_!' Chuck grinned happily, lost in a world of non-stop gaming.

Casey and Walker exchanged glances.

'Chuck, I'll be looking out for you, but that makes it imperative that you let me know where you are at all times. And if you flash, if there's a mission, you have to do what I say. Do you understand?'

Blinking, Chuck returned to reality. 'Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure, Sarah. So what're you going to do, big guy? Go fishing? See the family? Hit some bars, maybe get laid?'

Casey growled in disgust. 'I'm going to be hiding out in my own damn apartment keeping up surveillance on you. For fifteen days.'

'What? No! You said it yourself, I'll be fine with Sarah. Go, lie on a beach, try not to shoot anyone.' He clapped Casey on the shoulder, ignoring the patented Casey death-glare. 'You never know, you might actually have fun.'

Still scowling, Casey fished in his pocket and pulled out a key. Pressing it into Chuck's palm, he said, 'Here. If you do have to come over for any reason, tell your sister you're looking after my bonsai. Don't use it if you don't have to.'

#

Back at the _Buy More_, the Greenshirts took the news with their usual equanimity. Which is to say, they complained.

'Oh man, does Big Mike really expect us all to turn into John Casey? Dude, I gotta say I don't see that happening,' Morgan said, leaning on the Nerd Herd desk. 'I'm pretty sure that guy only bought the BeastMaster because he was scared Casey might just fire it up and grill him on it if he didn't. Now I'm pretty tough, but even at my most badass I'm nowhere near as scary as he is. I'm not ashamed to admit it. That guy is one scary dude.'

Chuck shrugged. 'I'm just telling you what Big Mike said. While Casey's off doing whatever it is you do when the military calls you back for training - and I'm assuming that involves obstacle courses and shooting guns and maybe something to do with blowing things up - you guys have to step it up. Which means no more cage fights, not unless it sells things.'

'This totally blows,' Morgan grumbled.

Anna, perched on the edge of the desk, leaned over and whispered loudly, 'He's just grumpy because I kicked his ass at _Guitar Hero_.'

'I am not! My controller was faulty. Oh, look, a customer. I'll go sell them a BeastMaster.' Scowling, Morgan made his escape.

Anna laughed, then, grinning slyly, she turned to face Chuck. 'So, Chuckles, have you seen Casey's uniform? I bet he's Special Forces.'

'What? I have absolutely no idea what branch of the military Casey served in. Why would I?' Chuck protested.

'Come on, Chuck,' Lester joined in. 'The two of you spend so much time in each other's pockets, I'm expecting to receive an invitation to your wedding any day now.'

Chuck gaped, speechless.

'Yeah, Chuck! Can you really expect us to believe you don't know all about your boyfriend's military past?' Jeff added, leaning in and incidentally leering at Anna, who ignored him. 'I bet you've seen him in just his dog tags, right?'

'You guys are insane! I'm going out with Sarah, remember? Casey's my neighbor, that's all!'

'Whatever you say, Chuckles.' Anna laughed evilly as, blushing furiously, Chuck fled to the back room, where he locked himself in the cage and got back to work fixing PCs.

#

The rest of the week went badly. Shoplifting increased once word got out that Casey wasn't in the store, and Big Mike's temper worsened along with the store's sales figures. Every time Chuck was out on the sales floor, the Greenshirts took to asking him just how he was planning on welcoming back his boyfriend. As a result, their backlog of broken computers was rapidly depleted, and Chuck took every opportunity to go out on service calls. Which naturally led to his stumbling across and flashing on a foreign terrorist who was engaged in a plot to...

'Fix the 2008 Koi Carp World Championship? You've got to be kidding!' Sarah said in disbelief when Chuck phoned her from the relative safety of the Nerd Herder.

'That's what I said!' Chuck replied desperately, 'But he seems to be taking it very seriously!'

Sarah winced at the burst of gunfire that crackled loudly from her phone. 'Hang in there, Chuck. I'll be there in two minutes.'

#

The Nerd Herder, even enhanced, was not perhaps the best place to be in a firefight. By the time Sarah arrived, the little car's windows were smashed and one door stood open. Chuck was gone.

It took an hour for Sarah track him down, to a warehouse at the far end of an industrial park. She arrived to find the place already being raided by the CIA.

With Chuck safely retrieved and the would-be Koi Carp world champion under arrest, Sarah headed back to Orange Orange, where General Beckman was waiting to speak with her.

'Well done, Agent Walker. Good work on tracking down the asset so quickly. However, I'm not sure that it's wise for Chuck to go out on support calls with Major Casey not around to provide backup. Mister Bartowski, you'll have to remain at the Buy More while you are at work.'

'What if someone asks for me by name?' Chuck said, rubbing the sore spot on his wrist where the rope had chafed.

'Make some excuse. We can't have you out alone, especially not until a new customised vehicle arrives for you to drive. Agent Walker, you are to escort the asset to work and back.'

'Yes, ma'am.' Sarah said as the connection cut out.

'Fine, whatever,' Chuck said in annoyance, taking the steps two at a time. 'I have to get back to the _Buy More_ and tell them I got carjacked, or something. It's getting kind of hard to explain why my car keeps on getting trashed.' Pausing at the top of the steps he added, 'Oh, but thank you for saving me. Again. I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours.'

Frowning, Sarah watched him jog back across the parking lot towards the _Buy More_. She flipped open her cellphone and dialled Casey.

'What the hell was that?' she snapped.

'Thank you for saving the Intersect and making me look good,' Casey said. 'That was me saving your ass as well as your asset.'

'What did you do?'

'I was listening in when the firefight started. I tracked Chuck using the traffic camera network. As soon as they turned into the industrial estate, I called your hotline, used a voice modulator and pretended to be you. The CIA sent a strike team out and you turned up in time to give Chuck a lift back to the _Buy More_.'

'And you couldn't call me to let me know where he was?' With difficulty, Sarah kept her temper under control.

Amused, he replied. 'I didn't want you going in on your own. I knew you were heading in the right direction.' At her snarl, he added, 'I would have called you otherwise.'

She snapped her phone shut in frustration just as a customer strolled in. A second later, she was smiling and taking the customer's order, and only Chuck and Casey would have spotted the tense set of her shoulders that showed she was still angry.

#

The rest of Chuck's shift was taken up with reporting the destruction of yet another Nerd Herder to Big Mike and attempting to fill in the paperwork for it, interrupted repeatedly by everyone coming up to hear his story of getting caught up in the middle of a firefight.

When Sarah came by to collect him, he made a point of kissing her in front of his colleagues and walking out with her arm in arm. He didn't hear Lester's snort of disbelief, nor Anna's derisive comment about beards.

As they left the store, Sarah detatched herself from Chuck's arm. 'Want to tell me what that was all about?'

'Sorry, sorry. I realise that was possibly overstepping the line a little in our fake relationship, but all I've had from everyone for the past three days is how I must be missing Casey and exactly what I should do when he gets home to show him just how much I've missed him. They actually laugh when I tell them we're going out on a date.'

'You're saying our cover is compromised?' Sarah asked, her voice rising. 'Oh, this is just perfect!' She lapsed into an angry silence as she drove, but as they drew up outside the apartment complex, she sighed. 'Chuck, you need to go see Casey.'

'Okay, why?' Chuck frowned in confusion.

She put a hand on his arm. 'It was Casey who saved you this afternoon, not me. He was tracking you.'

'You mean he really is sitting in there keeping an eye on me?' He flushed. 'God, the poor guy must be going stir-crazy by now! I'll go over, take some Chinese, maybe a good film. He needs to learn how to relax. He's supposed to be on holiday!'

Sarah looked at him for a long moment, eyebrows raised, before she shook her head. 'Thank you, Chuck.' Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek. 'I think I see why your colleagues are having a little trouble believing in our cover.'

'What? I can't be concerned about the two people who keep me alive?' Chuck stared at her. 'Sarah, you can't honestly believe there's something going on between Casey and me!'

'I'm sure there isn't,' Sarah hastened to reassure him. 'But maybe you should ask yourself just how much you're missing him. Take some time, think it over, and if you'd rather, I can talk to the General, tell her maybe I'm not the one best suited to the really close protection work.'

Chuck's mouth moved soundlessly as he stared at her with huge eyes. After a long moment, he found his voice. 'I'm not having this conversation. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Sarah.' He climbed out of the car and Sarah waited until the door had closed behind him before driving off.

#

He leaned against the door, thoughts racing.

'Are you all right?' Ellie asked, looking round from her cooking.

Chuck jumped. 'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just been a long and deeply weird day.'

'Want to talk about it? I've nearly finished making dinner.'

'Oh, you know what? I was going to order some Chinese and head over to Casey's apartment, check up on those bonsai of his.'

'This will be ready in five minutes. Why don't you save the takeout for tomorrow evening and go grab a shower? You can always go over after you've eaten.'

Admitting defeat, Chuck said, 'Okay. I'll set the table, then.'

Concerned, Ellie gave him a long look as he left the living room.

Devon came through to the kitchen and fished a pitcher of juice out of the fridge. 'What's up, babe? You look troubled.'

With a sigh, Ellie answered. 'It's Chuck.'

'What's the problem?' He put the pitcher on the table and started pulling table mats out of a drawer.

'I'm not sure. I can't help thinking it has something to do with John Casey.'

'Really,' Devon said, eyebrow raised. 'I see. I'll handle this. I know he's your brother, but I think this requires a talk, man to man.'

'Oh? Why? What do you know about this that I don't?' Ellie asked, suspicious.

Devon put on his serious face. 'Chuck's been through a lot lately, Ellie. He's done a lot of changing, growing up. Finding out who he really is, what he wants out of life.'

'And this has what to do with-' Ellie stopped abruptly as Chuck came back into the living room, wet hair touselled, looking more comfortable in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt.

'What? Oh, hey Devon, I'll get that.' Chuck took the fistful of cutlery from Devon and started laying it out on the table. 'So, Sarah's going to be giving me a lift in to work for the next few days.'

'What happened to your Nerd Herder?' asked his sister, emptying the rice into a large bowl.

'Oh, it, er, got a bit... shot at. While I was on a support call.'

'Oh my god! Chuck, are you okay?' Ellie gasped, putting the rice down and coming over to look him over.

'Yeah, I'm fine. I wasn't in it at the time,' Chuck lied, 'But it's going to need the windows replacing.'

She hugged him fiercely. 'You shouldn't have to go to dangerous areas. Isn't there a company policy on that?'

Chuck shrugged awkwardly. 'Possibly. I won't be going on any more calls at least until I get my car back, anyhow. So, dinner smells good. How was your day?'

His sister frowned but let him get away with changing the subject, and in short order they were seated around the table enjoying Ellie's famous chili.

#

After dinner, Devon and Chuck cleared the table.

'Why don't you go run yourself a bath, babe? Light a few candles? You deserve a soak after preparing that awsome dinner. I'll bring you a glass of wine in a minute.'

'Thanks, I think I will,' Ellie smiled. 'You could bring the wine through in, say, five minutes?' She looked across at Chuck, then back to her fiancé.

'Will do, hon,' Devon grinned, nodding.

Chuck scraped the leftovers into a couple of tupperware tubs then busied himself piling plates beside the sink. 'Do you want to wash or dry?' he asked.

Devon shrugged. 'I don't mind. Whatever you like is fine by me.' He leaned against the worktop while Chuck ran water into the bowl. 'If you don't mind me saying, you've been looking a little off your game for a few days now. Ever since John got recalled for training.'

Chuck nearly dropped a glass. 'I'm fine, Devon. Really. Just a bit shaken by today, that's all.'

'Are you sure?' Devon asked, eyebrows raised. 'Because you and John have gotten very close awfully fast. And that's okay, bro. I know things between you and Sarah have been complicated, but they don't have to be.'

Chuck stared at Devon, cheeks flaming. 'What exactly are you trying to say, Devon? Does Ellie think I'm secretly cheating on Sarah with Casey too?'

'Whoa there! Nobody's saying you're cheating on Sarah!' Devon put down the plate he was drying.

'No? Only everyone at work.' Chuck muttered, scrubbing at a pan.

'Not awesome, bro, not awesome. Is that why you're so worked up?' Devon clapped him on the shoulder.

Chuck put down the dishcloth and sighed, staring disconsolately into the soapy water. 'Partly, I guess. Even Morgan thinks there's something going on.'

'Why do you think that might be?' Devon regarded him with compassion.

Chuck looked up at his soon-to-be brother-in-law. 'I don't know.' He shrugged. 'I suppose because John and I are close, in a way. I guess I rely on him being there. And he's so different from anyone I've ever met. It's like... It's like he's Superman, and I'm Jimmy Olsen.'

'Touch of hero worship?'

'Yeah, I guess there's a little of that. I just... I realized how much I admire him. And though it pains me more than you can ever imagine to have to admit it, I actually have missed him these past few days. The growling, the snarling, the bad temper...' He trailed off.

'I hear ya, bro.' Devon nodded sympathetically. 'Like I said, whatever you choose is fine by me. And it'll be fine by Ellie, too, don't worry about that. She just wants you to be happy. You should talk things through with Sarah, though. Perhaps the reason why things are always so complicated for you guys is because your heart isn't quite in it. And if it's not, she'll know, you can be sure of that.'

Chuck grimaced. 'Thanks for the pep talk, Devon. Only mildly awkward, and I actually do feel a little better for talking. Would you mind finishing up here? I'd better go see to Casey's bonsai before I forget.'

'Sure thing, bro. Take your time.'

Chuck dried his hands off, grabbed a tub of leftovers and, calling into his room, grabbed his phone and a dvd. He climbed out of the window and crossed the courtyard. Then, feeling obscurely as though he was doing something wrong, he pulled Casey's key out of his wallet, turned it in the lock, opened the door and walked in.


	2. Chapter 2

The light snapped on. Chuck blinked. 'Hi, Casey.'

'Bartowski.' The agent was seated in his lounge chair wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. Headphones rested round his neck, and his feet were bare. On the coffee table were a mug of coffee, half a sandwich on a small white plate, and a gun.

'Brought you some dinner. Ellie's famous chili.' He waggled the tub and smiled hopefully.

'I heard every word.'

'Yeah, I know.' Chuck searched Casey's face, trying to read his mood. 'Sarah said I have you to thank for this afternoon's timely rescue. So, thank you. It was much appreciated.'

'Mm,' Casey growled. 'What exactly is it that you want? I distinctly remember telling you not to use that key unless you absolutely had to.'

'Well, you know what? I guess I absolutely did have to.' Chuck sat down on the sofa, dropping the tupperware onto the coffee table. 'I brought _The Transporter_, too. In case you feel like watching it.'

Casey stared at him. 'What part of 'absolutely have to' do you have a problem with?'

'The part where I absolutely had to come over here and see you,' Chuck replied calmly despite the inexplicable racing of his heart and his sweaty palms. 'The part where I finally got why it is that everyone who sees us together is convinced we're a couple. And the part where actually, I'm okay with that, surprisingly.'

Ignoring the agent's scowl, Chuck leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his neck. Half-smiling, he continued. 'You know, it was never in my game plan - as far as I had a game plan, that is - to fall for a guy who has to be the meanest, grumpiest goverment assassin in the entire United States. I have a beautiful fake girlfriend who I care for deeply. A fantastic life that alternates mind-numbing boredom with sheer terror and frequent near death experiences. I have almost no time to spend with my sister, who I have to lie to every time I see, or my best friend, who, by the way, also thinks we're sleeping together. And my nerd credentials are slipping with every day I don't put in at least three hours of computer gaming.'

He looked at Casey, a serious expression on his face. 'My cover with Sarah is definitely not working. Captain Awesome's right; my heart's just not in it, not any more. So I had to come over here, even though I know that if I exchange a fake relationship with her for a fake relationship with you, things are probably only going to fall out the same way.'

Eyes narrowed, Casey said in an odd tone, 'And what way would that be, Chuck?'

'Oh, you know, you're straight, I apparently used to be straight. I'm an asset, you're my handler, you can't risk being compromised, and it's all for my safety.' Abruptly Chuck sat up and said angrily, 'You know what? I'm getting tired of being around two people who would rather face an army of bad guys with only a toothpick and a napkin for weapons than maybe, just maybe take a chance on happiness.'

'Happiness makes you sloppy, gets you killed,' Casey drawled.

Chuck scowled. 'Yeah, well, maybe I'd rather be happy and dead than constantly opening my heart to you guys and getting shot down in flames.' He sighed, his anger draining away, leaving him looking lost all of a sudden. 'I know there can't be anything between me and Sarah. It was just a dream I had for a while. I know I can't stop being the Intersect, and that's pretty much killed off all the other dreams I had, too. And you...'

'What're you saying, Bartowski? I'm your last resort?'

Chuck looked up, surprised at the hurt in Casey's tone.

'No! God, no. I suppose I'm saying I need a holiday too. From all of this.' He waved an arm, vaguely encompassing the room and Casey, who was still scowling. 'I got taken hostage by a terrorist today. Not because he wanted to take over the world, but because he wanted to win the Koi Carp World Championship. And all I could think while I was tied up was what if you're actually lying on a beach somewhere? If this guy shoots me, it's going to ruin your break.'

He scrubbed his face with his hands, then, leaning forwards, propped his chin on his fists. Looking at the coffee table, Chuck said quietly, 'I'm tired of being shot at, Casey. I'm tired of having my heart broken. I'd like the chance to go lie on a beach somewhere and let the world take care of itself for a change. But I guess that's not going to happen.' He sighed. 'I'd even settle for getting laid, but as we've established, that's not going to happen either. With anyone.'

There was a long pause as Chuck stared at Casey's sandwich, while the agent watched him impassively.

'Did you put mayonnaise on that beef?' Chuck asked, incredulous.

Casey unhooked his headphones and stood, picking up the plate and the tupperware container.

'Okay, I'm going! You're right, I shouldn't have come. Here.' Chuck dropped the key onto the coffee table, not meeting the older man's eyes, and turned to leave.

'I'm out of horseradish.'

'What?' Chuck turned, one hand on the door handle.

'I put mayonnaise on my beef sandwich because I'm out of horseradish sauce and I can't exactly go out to the shops if I'm supposed to be away at training camp, can I?' Casey said with only a touch of his habitual sarcasm.

'Okay...' Chuck frowned as Casey turned and walked through to the kitchen.

'Put the damn DVD on,' the agent called, and Chuck heard beeping from the microwave.

Heart pounding again, he hurried to do as Casey said.

A minute later, the agent was back with two bottles of beer in one hand and a steaming bowl of chili in the other. He sat down on the couch beside Chuck.

'Here.' He didn't look at Chuck as he handed him a bottle.

'Thanks,' Chuck felt himself blushing a little and hurriedly concentrated on starting the movie.

#

Chili eaten, Casey got up to put the bowl in the kitchen. He turned off the overhead light as he came back in, leaving the room lit only by the television. Sitting down again beside Chuck, he leaned back and put his bare feet up on the coffee table alongside Chuck's sock-clad ones. And sitting side by side, they watched the film in silence, although Casey snorted in derision at the scene where a missile destroyed the protagonist's house.

Chuck felt himself relaxing by degrees as the movie and the beer did their work, until at last the movie finished, plunging the room into almost total darkness.

'That was nice,' he said, stretching. 'Thanks for letting me hang out with you. And I'm sorry for ranting earlier.' He shifted forwards so that he could stand up, but Casey put a hand on his shoulder.

'I'm not Walker,' he said gruffly, eyes flicking over Chuck's face in the low light. 'And I'm not entirely straight. If you want to stay, you're welcome.'

'Oh?' Chuck asked, surprised. Then as Casey leaned in, he grinned. 'Oh!'

Casey kissed Chuck lightly, sucking a little at his top lip, giving the younger man chance to change his mind. Chuck leaned into the kiss, deepening it, his palms rising seemingly of their own accord to settle on Casey's muscled chest. A low moan escaped him, and as if that had been a signal, Casey wrapped his arms around Chuck's shoulders, pulling him close. Tasting of chili and beer, he plunged his tongue into Chuck's mouth, making the young man moan again. One of Chuck's hands slipped round to Casey's back, holding him needily, while the other ran up his chest and neck, over his jaw, then threaded its way into Casey's hair, massaging his scalp and drawing an answering groan from the older man.

They broke apart, panting, and Casey cupped Chuck's jaw with one gentle hand. 'Want to take this into the bedroom?' he rumbled, blue eyes locked on Chuck's brown ones.

Chuck beamed. 'Yeah, I do.' As they stood, he added, 'I thought you didn't like me.'

Casey kissed him again softly before turning him and pointing him towards the bedroom. 'I wouldn't be much of a spy if I couldn't lie convincingly, now, would I? Besides, you've been so busy ogling Walker you wouldn't have noticed if I'd tried giving you flowers and taking you out on dates.'

'So that's what the rose was about? And taking me on stakeouts?' Chuck grinned mischievously over his shoulder.

Casey swatted his behind.

'Hey!'

'Can it, Bartowski!'

He dropped onto the edge of the bed, leaning back on his elbows and smiling up in the near-darkness. 'Say it like you mean it, Casey.'

A low rumble was all the answer he got before Casey, stripped to the waist, leaned over and kissed him thoroughly. Chuck purred as Casey found the hem of his t-shirt and tugged it up. Breaking the kiss, Casey made Chuck sit up for long enough to get the t-shirt over his head and off, then he was pushing the young man down again, further onto the bed, half covering that slim body with his own, larger, muscled torso.

Chuck surrendered to sensation, kissing Casey with dizzying intensity and running his hands over the agent's bare back and ribs.

Casey twitched. Chuck grinned. 'Ticklish?'

'Had that rib broken four times.'

'Oh, ow. I'll be careful.'

Casey kissed Chuck again, linking hands with Chuck, lifting the young man's arms above his head and pinning them to the mattress.

Chuck moaned into Casey's mouth as his erection hardened further. Excited by being held down, his hips bucked up, rubbing denim against denim, feeling the unmistakeable outline of Casey's own erection pressing against him.

'Like that, huh?' Casey growled, amused. He bent his head and slowly licked at the curve of Chuck's ear, then took the lobe into his mouth and sucked.

'Gaah!' Chuck managed, before the older man licked and sucked his way down that long neck, pausing to bite gently over a pulse-point. By the time Casey had worked his way back up the other side of Chuck's throat and nibbled his way along the young man's jawline, Chuck was breathing hard and whimpering.

'You were saying?' Casey asked, smiling, before cutting off any possibility of an answer by kissing Chuck so thoroughly that he barely noticed his hands being released.

He did notice Casey's hand sliding inside his jeans, though, stroking his erection through his boxer shorts. It was only by an effort of will that he held off the orgasm that threatened, breaking off from kissing Casey to breathe deep lungfuls of air.

'Something wrong?' Casey stilled, watching Chuck carefully.

'Unless you want me to embarrass myself, maybe we should... uh...' Chuck trailed off as Casey tightened his grip. 'Oh God...'

Casey rolled off Chuck and quickly tugged off the young man's jeans and underpants. 'You can do your own socks,' he grunted, pushing his own jeans and boxer shorts off in one fluid movement.

Chuck scrambled to pull off his socks, finding coordination a little trickier than usual. 'How do we... what would...'

'Relax, Chuck,' Casey reassured him. 'We don't have to do anything you don't want to. And I promise you'll enjoy it.'

Chuck wished he could see the older man's face. Raising his head anyway, he said, 'I know. I just haven't done... anything... in a long time, and never...'

'Never with a man? It's not so very different.'

Chuck heard the sound of a drawer opening, then a plasticky click followed by something being set down on the bedside table.

The mattress dipped beside him again, and then Casey's hands were stroking his penis, covering it in lubricant. Chuck's hips bucked up into the older man's warm, sure grip.

'Casey, I'm really not going to last,' Chuck gasped, an edge of panic to his words.

'I've got you,' Casey murmured in his ear, then his mouth covered Chuck's again, and the world contracted to those two sensations, of hard, masculine lips on his, tongue plundering his mouth and the rasp of stubble against his chin, and hands moving smoothly, firmly, quickly up and down his penis.

With a cry, Chuck came, spilling over into Casey's hands.

The big man waited until Chuck's breathing had started to slow before letting go of him and fumbling for a tissue on which to wipe his hands. That done, he kissed Chuck with incredible tenderness, holding him until at last Chuck reached over and traced the line of Casey's cheekbone, his jaw.

'What about you?'

'We've got all night,' Casey rumbled. 'I can wait.'

In answer, Chuck kissed him, pushing at his shoulder until he rolled onto his back. Casey let him kiss his way down his neck and across his chest, pausing to lick tentatively at Casey's nipples. When the older man drew a sharp breath, he sucked at first one, then the other, enjoying the way Casey's breathing became a little more ragged.

Growing bolder, Chuck explored his way down Casey's body, being careful not to press on his ribs. Resisting the temptation to blow a raspberry on the agent's toned abdomen, he moved lower, hesitating over Casey's groin.

'You don't have to.' Casey reminded him, one hand lightly brushing over his hair.

'No, I know. I, uh, I want to. I'd just like to see you, make sure I'm doing it right.'

'I shouldn't be here, remember? We can't put the light on.' Casey's voice was tinged with regret. 'Just do what you like and it'll be fine.'

'Okay.' Chuck lowered his head and breathed out gently.

Casey shivered at the feeling of warm breath ghosting over his rock-hard penis, then jumped as Chuck's tongue licked delicately at the head.

Chuck wrapped his hand around Casey, feeling the solid velvet width in his palm. He licked at the head again, then took him into his mouth.

Casey groaned as wet heat engulfed him, trembling with the effort of keeping his hips still. Then Chuck began to suck, his head sliding up and down as his other hand cupped Casey's scrotum.

The agent gripped the sheet, head pressed back into the pillows. 'God, Chuck! That's... ohhh...' Speech deserting him, he groaned again.

Chuck concentrated on sucking harder, taking more of the agent into his mouth, sliding his tongue over the sensitive glans. He was rewarded by Casey's breathing growing faster, more ragged, until he was panting.

A hand threaded through his hair, tugged.

'Chuck, I'm going to...'

The young man grinned around his mouthful, gave one last hard suck, then pulled back, pumping rapidly with his hand.

Letting out a hoarse cry, Casey thrust into Chuck's hand, coming in spurts over his fist.

Chuck was still grinning as he moved back up the older man's body, placing a trail of kisses up his stomach, across his chest and onto his mouth.

'Pretty good for a first time, huh?' he smiled.

'Yeah,' Casey agreed as his breathing returned to normal. 'Here.' He handed Chuck a tissue and the young man wiped off his hand, settling beside him with a sigh.

'Can I stay?' Chuck asked, hopefully.

Casey grunted. 'Sure. I'll wake you up in time to go home before work. Just don't hog the blankets.'

'Okay.' Chuck turned on his side, draping one long leg over Casey's thighs. 'Night, John.'

'Mm. Night, Chuck.' Surprisingly quickly, Casey fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

'I didn't hear you come in last night, bro,' Devon said, holding a glass of something green. 'I take it you went to see Sarah? It looks as though the competition got her all fired up.' He nodded meaningfully at Chuck's neck.

'What? Oh, yeah...' Chuck grinned nervously, tugging his collar higher to hide the love bites on either side of his neck.

'So did you get things sorted out?' He drained the glass.

'Some, I guess. We still have some talking to do, though. What is that stuff?' As Devon opened his mouth to tell him, he waved a hand in the air. 'On second thoughts, don't tell me. I'm not sure I really want to know.'

As Ellie emerged from the bedroom, Chuck looked at his watch. 'Gotta go, Sarah'll be here any minute.'

'Didn't she just drop you off?' Devon frowned.

Door open, Chuck glanced back. 'She, uh, had errands to run. Before work.'

'Chuck! We have to talk - oh...' Ellie trailed off, looking uncertainly at the marks on his neck.

'Later, I promise.' Chuck closed the door firmly behind him and, squashing the temptation to go straight back to Casey's, went to wait at the curb.

Sarah pulled up and Chuck climbed in.

'So? Did you go see Casey?' she asked.

Chuck laughed nervously and dropped his hand from his neck.

Sarah stared at him in silence for a moment. 'I see.' The car shot out into traffic, and Chuck closed his eyes as she wove skillfully through the morning rush hour past slower-moving cars.

They reached the _Buy More_ without anything further being said. As the car idled, Chuck took a deep breath.

'Are you okay, Sarah?'

'Of course I am,' she said, forcing a smile. 'I'm glad you've worked things out with Casey.'

'Really?' Chuck asked. 'Because while I'm glad you're absolutely fine with this, I have to confess my ego is just a tiny bit dented.'

Sarah smiled, a genuine smile this time. 'It's a little odd, sure. But I'm happy you finally know what you want. And once Casey's back at work, we'll have to sit down and discuss our cover stories.'

Chuck smiled. 'It's a date, then.' He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, before hopping out of the car and walking jauntily into the _Buy More_, grinning happily to himself.

#

The day went well, Chuck had to admit. Morgan was the first to spot his love bites.

'Whoa, dude! Looks like you had quite a night there!'

Chuck couldn't help the smile that spread over his face. 'Yeah, I did.'

Anna jumped up onto the desk. 'Chuckles! Does this mean Sarah got tired of being your beard?'

'Guys!'

Jeff joined the group. 'Hey! Oh, man, Casey isn't going to like you cheating on him like that.' He stared at Chuck's neck until Chuck turned his collar up.

'I'm not cheating on anyone. Don't you all have work to do?' The phone rang, and he seized it with relief. 'Nerd Herd, for all your nerd needs. Chuck speaking, how may I help you?' Disappointed, his colleagues dispersed.

A low chuckle answered him. 'I have a problem. With my _hard_ drive.' It was Casey.

Chuck flushed. 'Oh?' His voice was higher than usual. 'What, what seems to be the problem with it?'

Another low, rumbling chuckle. 'Well, it's hard. And my drive is definitely spun up, could use a little nerd attention. A helping hand, so to speak.'

Chuck shifted his chair closer to the desk, making sure no-one could see the effect the call was having on him.

'Have you tried wiggling it? That sometimes helps.' He closed his eyes, seeing Casey as he'd been earlier, outlined by the dawn light that crept in around the curtains, all long, hard planes of muscle, brown hair falling over his forehead as he bent to show Chuck the same attention Chuck had shown him the night before.

'Yeah, but I don't think my hands are the right ones for the job. It needs someone with a lighter touch.'

'I... uh... I could fill out a home support request for you,' Chuck stammered, struggling to think straight. 'Oh, no, I can't. No car.'

A frustrated growl met his words. 'Damn. I guess it'll have to wait until after-hours, then.'

'It's my day off tomorrow,' Chuck proffered.

'I know.' Casey sounded inordinately pleased by that. 'Come by when you get home, Bartowski, and we'll see how long it takes to fix that harddrive.'

'I, uh, I'll do that,' Chuck stammered as Lester wandered up. 'Have a great day, now.'

Casey rang off without saying goodbye, leaving Chuck painfully hard behind the Nerd Herd desk.

#

After that, Chuck felt invincible. His grin lasted all day, disarming disgruntled customers before they had chance to complain, and disconcerting his colleagues enough that by the time his shift drew to a close, Morgan was the only one who would venture near him.

'Hey, buddy, you're freaking me out. Did Sarah put happy pills in your juice today?' Morgan leaned against the Nerd Herd desk, playing with the One Remote, now disabled.

'What? Oh, no, no. I'm fine. Really.' Chuck, distracted from thoughts of a naked Casey waiting for him, hastened to reassure his friend.

'Yeah, it's been quite apparent that you're _fine_ all day. I'm just wondering why, is all. What's different here? Take exhibit A.' He indicated Chuck. 'Your neck is unusually marked for a night with Sarah. Also, you have spent most of the day concealing a boner from the rest of the world. Which, you know, is more usual, but less blatantly so than today.'

Chuck stared at Morgan, eyebrows so far raised that they almost met his hair. 'Morgan...' he began, only for the man in question to carry on speaking.

'Now, Casey is out of town, which leads me to three possible conclusions.' Morgan glanced over at his friend. 'Either you've been sleeping with him all along and you just got lucky with Sarah. Or... you've been sleeping with Sarah all along-'

'Which is what I've been saying!' Chuck interjected.

'-and you've got lucky with someone else.'

'That's not funny, Morgan,' Chuck remonstrated. 'Or?'

'Or?' Morgan repeated, fiddling with a pen.

'You said you had three possible conclusions. So what's the third, little man?' Chuck asked quietly.

'Or Casey isn't out of town.'

For a moment, Chuck forgot how to breathe, staring at his friend with big eyes, his mouth open in a denial that never quite made it to speech.

Morgan looked up at Chuck with a serious face, but eyes full of compassion. 'He isn't, is he? And after everything we've been saying to you over the past few days, you finally decided to check it out.'

'Morgan...' Chuck trailed off, looked down at the desk.

'I guess Sarah really is your beard now.'

When Chuck didn't reply, Morgan stood, pulled Chuck into a hug. 'It's okay, buddy. Your secret is safe with me.' After a long moment, he pulled back and tilted his head. 'So, no _Call of Duty_ tonight?'

Chuck hugged his friend. 'No, not tonight.'

#

Ducking through the living room, Chuck managed to avoid Ellie. He showered in record time, put on a clean t-shirt bearing the slogan _Come to the Dork Side... We Have Cookies_, and grabbed his personal effects. Quickly he called in an order for sizzling shrimp, to be delivered to Casey's apartment. Finally, he strode impatiently back through the living room.

Ellie was waiting for him.

'Chuck, wait,' she called as he reached for the door handle.

With a sigh, he turned to face her. 'Hi, sis.' He put on a smile and went to hug her.

'Sit with me, Chuck,' Ellie said, patting the couch beside her.

'I'd love to, Ellie, but I have to -'

'What? Go see Sarah? Morgan? John?' Upset, she reached out and took his hand.

Chuck sat down. 'Casey's away on training, Ellie. What's this about, huh?'

'Devon told me you've been having issues. With Sarah... and with John Casey.' She watched him anxiously. 'Don't be mad that we talked about you. I'm worried about you. We both are.' She took his other hand, too. 'You know you can always talk to me, right? I love you, no matter what.'

'Gee, you make it all sound so... life and death,' Chuck joked, but Ellie didn't smile.

'Tell me what's going on in that head of yours. In your heart.' She regarded him earnestly with huge eyes filled with compassion. 'Chuck, are you gay?'

'Wow.' Chuck looked away. 'You don't pull any punches, do you?'

'Chuck...'

'I know, you just want me to be happy.' He sighed again, looked back at his older sister. 'You know things with Sarah are...'

'Complicated, right.' She nodded angrily. 'Is that because of John?'

'In a way, I suppose so.' Chuck squeezed Ellie's hands, then let go to run his fingers through his hair. 'Ellie, Sarah is an amazing woman. Really, she is, and she's done so much for me that I can never thank her enough. But ultimately, we're better off as just friends.'

'This isn't like that Lou girl, is it?' Ellie asked, wiping a tear from the corner of one eye. 'Because I'd hate to see you throw something wonderful away.'

'No, it's nothing like that,' Chuck said. 'Honestly, Ellie, I have no idea what's going to happen with Casey. I have feelings for him, but it's going to have to wait until he gets back.'

'So what about your neck? Didn't that mean anything?' Ellie sniffed.

Chuck blushed. 'It was a goodbye.'

'So you're sure?' She touched his cheek gently.

'Yeah. It's taken a while to figure it out, but I am.' He hugged her, dropping a kiss on top of her head.

'I'm going to miss Sarah, you know,' Ellie said, wiping away more tears.

'She'll still be around. She's been my friend as well as my girlfriend.' Chuck crooked a finger under her chin, tipping it up so that he could look her in the eye. 'Ellie, however things work out between me and John, breaking up with Sarah is the right thing to do. For her, for me. I promise.'

'Okay, Chuck. You go do what you have to.' As he stood and walked to the door, she called, 'Remember I'll always love you. And if John hurts you, all his military training won't mean a thing. No one messes my little brother around!'

'Thanks, sis. I love you too,' Chuck said around the lump in his throat. 'See you later.'

#

'So Morgan and Ellie both know? Great going, Bartowski,' Casey greeted Chuck, who closed the door behind him and turned on the light.

'What was I supposed to say, Casey? No, things are fine with Sarah! I'm not in love with my NSA handler at all!' Chuck snapped, then stopped. 'Oops.'

Casey stared at the young man. 'Oh, crap.'

The doorbell rang, and Casey quickly picked up his gun from the coffee table, moving silently over to the door. He nudged Chuck in the ribs as he punched in the code on the security system that would run a full weapons scan on the person standing outside.

'What?' Chuck hissed, confused, then, 'Oh, right. Yeah?' he called out in a louder tone. 'Who's there?'

'Golden Dragon takeaway!'

'Right, one moment,' Chuck called. 'Just getting my wallet...'

Casey nodded; the weapons scan had come up clean. He moved swiftly to the other side of the doorframe, keeping his gun ready as Chuck opened the door.

The delivery driver paid and food handed over, Chuck shut the door again and watched as Casey made sure it was locked and bolted in six different ways.

'Hi, it's good to see you too, Casey. Here, I got you some dinner. Oh, and this.' Chuck handed over the bag of sizzling shrimp, then fished a small squeezy bottle out of his back pocket and dropped it into Casey's hand.

'Horseradish sauce?' Casey stared at the bottle, then back up at Chuck.

'Yeah. Medium hot, just the way you like it.' Chuck looked at Casey, need and longing written large across his expressive features.

'Aw, hell,' Casey muttered, and strode through to the kitchen, putting things down on the counter rather more forcefully than he needed to.

'I could always just go,' Chuck offered in a small voice. 'Maybe I should-'

Casey came back into the living room carrying a plate. On it was the carton of sizzling shrimp and two pairs of chopsticks. He placed it carefully on the coffee table, then stalked back round to where Chuck was still standing beside the door, stopping barely a pace away.

'I don't do hearts and flowers. I don't do families and walks on the beach. I don't do vacations. Got that, Chuck?' Casey almost spat the v-word, but Chuck didn't flinch.

'You don't have to,' he said, keeping his voice level. 'I don't think my upbringing prepared me particularly well for some of those things either. And I'm not on vacation. But I was hoping to show you how to have a day off, if that's all right with you.' He smiled.

Casey growled and pounced on him. By the time Chuck had recovered enough to start kissing him back, Casey had the young man pinned up against the door, his long muscular body pressed against him from chest to thigh. When at last he broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against Chuck's as they caught their breath, Casey said softly, 'Thanks for the horseradish.'

Chuck laughed weakly, his arms still wrapped around Casey's neck. 'I missed you too.' His stomach rumbled loudly. 'Dinner?'

'Come on.' Casey pushed himself away from the door and led Chuck back to the couch. 'It smells good.'

#

'So you were watching me at the _Buy More_ today, huh?' Chuck said, sprawling across the couch with his legs across Casey's lap.

Casey nodded. 'Yeah. Got a direct feed from the security cameras.'

'You get that problem fixed?' Chuck raised an eyebrow. 'The one with your... hard drive?'

'Nope,' Casey said. 'Still needs wiggling.' He stared pointedly at Chuck's hands. 'Care to give it a go?'

Chuck smiled happily. 'I never thought you'd ask.' He scooted closer to Casey, licking his bottom lip in anticipation. 'I might need to remove the outer casing. You know, just to get a better look, see what exactly the problem might be.'

'Give it a thorough inspection, huh?' Casey's voice deepened to a low rumble as he watched the younger man with desire-filled eyes.

'Oh, absolutely,' Chuck breathed. 'I couldn't possibly diagnose a fault without a very... thorough... inspection...' He knelt on the couch, straddling Casey's thighs, and leaned in to kiss him.

As they kissed, Casey shifted, sliding forwards until Chuck was pressed groin to groin with him, then he rolled his hips slowly, rubbing his hardening erection against the young man. At the same time, his hands slid underneath the hem of Chuck's t-shirt and up over his stomach until they reached his chest. Casey ran his fingers lightly through the dark hairs sprinkled there, just brushing over Chuck's nipples, making him jolt, which had the happy side-effect of rubbing Chuck even harder against Casey's erection.

Breathing hard, Chuck pulled back a fraction. 'How, how, how did you fail seduction class, exactly? Because I'm not seeing how anyone could give you anything less than top marks.' He grinned, then twitched again, going slack-jawed as Casey rubbed his palms over his nipples. 'God, that feels good!'

Casey nibbled gently at the corner of his jaw. 'Rowan wanted to give my partner a little more one-on-one tuition,' he rasped. 'Made me try harder, though.' With a wicked grin, he thrust upwards, making Chuck gasp.

'Really?' he squeaked. 'Good to know!' He tugged at Casey's t-shirt until the older man leaned forwards enough for him to pull it up and over his head. Sitting back just a little, Chuck took a moment to admire the broad expanse of solid muscle in front of him.

'Like what you see?' Casey asked with a little smile of amusement.

Chuck swallowed. 'I'd be a little intimidated by your incredibly impressive physique, but I'm having a hard time concentrating right now.'

Casey slid his hands smoothly down and round Chuck's sides until he reached the young man's denim-clad rear. Then, cupping a cheek in each hand, he held Chuck in place as he thrust up again, repeatedly rubbing their erections over each other through their jeans.

Chuck moaned, his head falling back as he braced himself against Casey's chest. 'Oh god, that's good!'

Casey thrust harder at the sight of the marks, his marks, on the young man's pale throat. 'Thought you were going to conduct an inspection?' he rumbled.

'Need to... move the unit... to a better surface,' Chuck managed to gasp out.

With a growl, Casey surged to his feet, still holding Chuck, who let out a startled cry, then hastily wrapped his legs around the tall man's hips, his arms around Casey's broad shoulders, bringing him nose-to nose with the agent.

Kissing Chuck furiously, Casey strode towards the stairs, making it up to the fourth step before a knock sounded at the door.

Casey froze, pulling back from the kiss.

'What the-' Chuck began, only to be cut off by Casey's 'Ssh!'

The knock sounded again, and as quietly as possible, Casey let Chuck slide down until his feet touched the steps. When he was sure the young man had his balance, he moved swiftly but silently back down the stairs and across the living room, collecting his gun from the table as he went.

Chuck followed with a little less grace and a little more noise, almost tripping over one discarded shoe.

'Who-' he cleared his throat and tried again. 'Who is it?'

'Chuck?'

He groaned quietly, and began undoing the locks. 'Just a moment, Ellie.'

Casey scowled. 'Get rid of her!' he mouthed, retreating out of sight into the kitchen.

Chuck undid the last bolt and opened the door, keeping his lower half hidden as best he could. 'Ellie, hi.' He plastered a smile on his face. 'What's up, sis?'

'I saw the light on over here and I thought I'd come and check it out, see if it was you, or a burglar, or maybe John back early...' She smiled, looking past him to the coffee table where the empty carton of sizzling shrimp still sat.

Chuck glanced behind him, immediately catching sight of Casey's discarded t-shirt lying on the floor by the corner of the couch. He moved forwards, blocking her view a little more, and babbled, 'I was just seeing to John's bonsai and I got a bit hungry, thought I might as well eat here. They're fine, just fine now. But I thought I'd stay a bit longer, just, you know, be here.'

Ellie's face softened. 'Oh, it's so sweet that you miss him. Of course you feel closer to him, being here, surrounded by his things. Just... don't do anything weird, okay? I'm not sure John would like it if you invaded his privacy too much.'

'No, no, no, I won't,' Chuck hastened to reassure her. 'I'm only here to deter burglars, let them know the place isn't empty. Honest.' He backed it up with his most honest smile, relieved to see the concern leave her eyes.

'All right, Chuck, you do that. I'm sure no burglars will dare to break in while you're here to guard the place.' She smiled and patted his cheek. 'I'll see you later, then.'

'Okay, bye!' Chuck waited as she crossed the courtyard, waggling his fingers as she glanced over her shoulder at him. But as soon as she was safely back inside her own apartment, he shut the door firmly, hastily engaging the locks.

Casey emerged from the kitchen and glared at him.

'See, that's why I haven't been putting the light on!' he growled, annoyed.

'Well, now my sister thinks I'm some sort of pervert who's going to go through all your stuff while you're away, just so I can feel closer to you. So that's an improvement,' Chuck grimaced.

'You'd better not,' Casey warned, still frowning.

'Oh, don't worry. I have no intention of touching your things, Casey. I'd probably end up accidentally shooting myself with a gun disguised as a, a candlestick, or something stupid like that.'

'Why would I have a gun disguised as a candlestick?' asked Casey, picking up his t-shirt and shrugging it back on.

'I don't know!' Chuck threw up his hands in frustration. 'I have no idea why you would have a gun disguised as a candlestick. It was just an example. A stupid example, obviously.'

'Obviously,' Casey agreed, coming to stand beside him, his annoyance draining away in the face of the nerd's discomfort. He took Chuck's hand. Softer, he said, 'Come on.'

'That didn't put you off? Because I've gotta say, it kind of broke the mood a little for me, being interrupted by my sister,' Chuck said drily.

'A little,' Casey confessed. 'But you still owe me an inspection.' He grinned wickedly, and after a moment, Chuck grinned too.

'Okay, then. Lead on.'


	4. Chapter 4

Upstairs in the dark bedroom, the two men quickly undressed and slid into Casey's king-sized bed.

'It's going to be tricky, doing an inspection in the dark,' Chuck said softly, leaning on one elbow as he turned onto his side to face Casey.

The older man slipped an arm under him, wrapping it around his shoulders and pulling him close. 'It doesn't matter.' He stroked Chuck's thigh, settling a hand on his hipbone. 'Besides, I've seen you reassemble a PC blindfold,' he murmured huskily.

Chuck traced patterns in the hair on Casey's chest. 'Mm, I suppose,' he breathed, leaning forward to kiss Casey on the nose then the chin. Casey growled, catching Chuck's mouth with his own in a slow kiss. With the arm that was around Chuck's shoulders, he pulled the young man down until they were pressed together, chest to waist, slim legs tangling. His other hand slid round to cup Chuck's ass, gently kneading the cheek, until Chuck groaned into his mouth.

'So did you mean it?' Casey rasped.

'Hm?' Chuck's eyes fluttered open, a goofy smile plastered across his face.

'What you said earlier. Did you mean it?'

Chuck gazed at Casey, who was just a blur in the darkness, then cleared his throat. 'Yes,' he said, feeling his cheeks heat. 'Yes, I did. I do.' When Casey didn't say anything, he continued. 'I know it's a problem. I shouldn't, you can't...'

'I do.'

'It's... What?' Chuck stared at Casey, blinking. 'You...?'

'Don't make me say it again.' Casey stared fiercely up at Chuck.

'Oh. Oh!' A smile spread across Chuck's face. 'Well, then...' Chuck bent his head and fluttered his lips over Casey's cheeks, covering them with feather-light kisses, until Casey finally turned his head and kissed Chuck back with a grunt of satisfaction.

Holding the young man tightly in his arms, Casey rolled over, covering Chuck entirely. 'I want you,' he said roughly. 'I can wait, but I want all of you.'

Chuck tugged Casey down for another long, heavy kiss. Breaking for air, he leaned upwards, nipping at Casey's jawline. 'I want all of you too,' he murmured in Casey's ear.

In answer, Casey rolled his hips against Chuck's, sucking another love-bite on the young man's neck. Playfully they bit and wrestled until Chuck was pinned to the bed, whimpering as Casey licked round his nipples.

'Casey!'

The agent lifted his head, amused. 'Would it kill you to call me John?'

'Casey!' Chuck whined, writhing underneath the older man. 'John! Just... I need you!'

'Really,' Casey murmured with an evil grin, bending his head back down to suckle rhythmically.

'Gah-ahhh!' Chuck cried. 'Please!'

Casey took pity on the younger man, reaching one hand between them, where he rubbed the flat of his palm over Chuck's erection, reaching down to cup his testicles before pushing down gently with the heel of his palm on the head of Chuck's penis. Chuck bucked upwards, fighting for more, and Casey lunged upwards, plunging his tongue deep into Chuck's mouth.

With his other hand, Casey reached over to the bedside table where the tube of lubricant was still sitting.

'You sure?' he asked, 'Because if you aren't, you say now.'

Chuck lifted his head. 'John!'

'Hah!' Casey grinned, flicking open the tube of lubricant, dexterously squeezing some into his hand. Reaching down between Chuck's legs, he coated the young man's opening, running two fingers slowly round before pushing the tip of one finger into that dimple.

'Oh!' Chuck gasped, forcing himself to relax as Casey's strong finger pushed into him. Casey's other hand wrapped around his penis, stroking him back to hardness while the older man kissed him passionately. Chuck moaned under the combined onslaught, holding onto Casey's broad shoulders as the agent slid deeper into him, fingers probing, searching, finding the bundle of nerves inside him that made him cry out, bucking upwards to take as much of Casey's hand as he could.

Pulling free, Casey tore open a condom packet, quickly sheathing himself in rubber. He coated himself in more lubricant before settling back between Chuck's legs.

As he steadied himself at Chuck's opening, the young man opened his eyes.

'Please,' Chuck begged. 'I need you.'

Casey pushed slowly into Chuck's body, pausing to let him adjust. 'You're so tight!' he gasped, resting his head against Chuck's shoulder.

'Oh god, John, I don't think I can last much longer,' Chuck babbled, feeling Casey's width slide into him.

Casey began to move, sliding gently back and forth between Chuck's legs, panting as the tight heat engulfed him. Then Chuck rolled his hips upwards, taking Casey in to the root, making him call out hoarsely.

'John!' Chuck cried as Casey hit his prostate. 'Please!'

Casey obliged, moving faster, harder, deeper, his mouth searching out the young man's, his fingers interlocking with Chuck's, until there was no asset, no intersect, no handler; just two men moving as one, body to body, mouth to mouth, tongue to tongue. And then Chuck called out wordlessly, spilling himself across his stomach, between them, and Casey stilled as the young man's muscles clenched around him. With a harsh cry, the agent let himself go, eyes clenched shut, arms wrapped around the young man, holding him as close as he could get.

Then they were lying there in Casey's bed, harsh breathing filling the air. Casey kissed Chuck's temple with trembling lips as Chuck wrapped his arms and legs around the older man, not letting him withdraw.

'I love you,' Chuck said quietly, fiercely, into Casey's ear. 'Don't die for me. I love you.'

Casey let himself be held, cradled in the arms of the man he was sworn to protect. 'I love you too,' he rasped, voice still shaky. 'Stay in the damn car.'

Chuck gave a hiccuppy laugh, then Casey pulled free and rolled over to drop the condom on the floor. Chuck wiped his abdomen with a handful of tissues and draped himself over the older man, refusing to let him get up or turn away.

'I've got you,' Casey whispered as Chuck fell asleep on his chest. 'I've always got you.' He watched the dim figure sleep until at last fatigue claimed him too, and when morning broke they were still lying clasped in each others arms.

#

Chuck woke to find himself being watched by Casey, whose blue eyes twinkled in amusement.

'What?' Chuck asked, stretching his long legs, then draping one over Casey.

'You make these little snuffling noises in your sleep,' Casey explained, voice still rough from sleep but filled with affection.

'Really?' A smile tugged at the corners of Chuck's mouth.

'Yeah. And you drool.' Casey tightened his arms around the young man.

Chuck wiped a hand across the shoulder he'd been using as a pillow. 'I do not drool,' he protested, hastily drying his hand on the sheet.

'You drool and you snuffle and since when did I turn into your teddy bear?' Casey undermined his words by pulling Chuck fully on top of him and kissing him thoroughly.

'So I can't stay over any more?' Chuck asked breathlessly when they finally broke for air.

Casey growled and swatted at Chuck's rear, making him squeak in surprise. 'As long as your sister isn't going to march over and shout at me, at least if you're here I know you're safe.'

'Just to cut down on the surveillance, huh?' Chuck kissed him on the nose, then ducked sideways to nibble at his ear.

'Yeah,' Casey agreed, breath hitching. 'Have you any idea how boring it is listening to you and Morgan playing _Call of Duty_s amusement, snoring softly.


	5. Chapter 5

'Is Chuck home?' Morgan asked, taking a nacho from the baking tray.

'Argh! Morgan!' Ellie sagged against the kitchen counter. 'What have I told you about coming in through Chuck's window?'

'I think the phrasing used was 'don't', but I could be mistaken,' Morgan said, taking a thoughtful bite. 'Why?'

'Please would you just use the front door?' Ellie pleaded.

'You know, if I had a key, I wouldn't have to come in through the window.' He snagged another handful of nachos.

'That's not going to happen, so don't even think it,' Ellie warned. 'And no, Chuck's not here. Why? Was he meant to be?'

'Well, no. At least he didn't say he'd be here. He didn't say he'd be out, either, though, so since it's his day off I kind of assumed he'd want to play _Call of Duty_, maybe a little _Medal of Honor_.' Morgan frowned. 'Tell me, Ellie, when did you last see your brother?'

Ellie pulled a casserole out of the oven and made her way over to the table, giving Morgan as wide a berth as possible. 'Last night. He was over at John Casey's place, apartment-sitting. Maybe he's still there.'

Morgan's eyes widened. 'Maybe so, maybe so,' he murmured thoughtfully.

After a pause, Ellie asked, 'Morgan, have you noticed anything about Chuck lately?'

'I notice many things, Ellie. I could, in fact, take a doctorate in all things Chuck. Could you be a little more specific?' Morgan said, sitting down at the table.

'More specifically? John,' Ellie said, sitting down opposite him.

'John... John...' Morgan stalled, glancing around the room.

'Yes, John! Morgan, what's going on between John Casey and my little brother?' Ellie stared at him with eyes filled with concern. 'If you know anything, tell me, Morgan, please. I feel as though I hardly know Chuck any more.'

Morgan sighed, looking at Ellie from under his heavy mop of dark hair. 'Ellie, look, Chuck hasn't talked to me about it. All I know is what I've pieced together.' He took Ellie's hand. 'John's been totally into Chuck from the minute he started at the Buy More. Always hanging around him, acting all possessive. I'm just surprised it's taken this long for Chuck to notice him. I mean, all those muscles? That jawline?' He leaned forwards. 'I'm telling you, Ellie, the man gets followed around the store by everyone from teenage girls all the way up to grandmothers with walkers. We actually have a thriving black market in DVDs featuring illicitly recorded footage of John shifting boxes.'

'I'm worried for him, Morgan,' Ellie sighed. 'I mean, what do we really know about John? He's military, he's older... That's it.'

'That's not quite true,' Morgan said. 'We know he bakes really good mini-quiches.'

'Hey, is that dinner?' Devon strode into the room.

'Ah!' Morgan jumped, pulling his hands away from Ellie's. 'Nothing happened, man! Nothing at all!'

'Sure,' Devon shrugged, crossing to the kitchen. 'So what's up?'

'Discussing my brother,' Ellie said with a groan, resting her head on her hands. 'I know I should be happy for him, but I'm not sure he knows what he's getting himself into. I don't even know if he came home last night! That's not healthy, surely, just sitting over there in John's apartment all on his own.' she appealed to Devon.

'Babe, you've got to let Chuck make his own mistakes. He has to follow his heart,' Devon said, bringing over a bottle of wine and two glasses.

'You think this is a mistake?' Morgan asked, resting his chin on his fist. 'Huh.'

'I don't know, Morgan. If John cares for him, I don't see how it can be,' Devon said. 'Just as long as he's happy.'

'Oh, I miss Sarah!' Ellie cried. 'I know I have to support Chuck in his choices, but they were so good together! She was so good for him. I was looking forward to helping plan their wedding. Ugh!'

'I'm sure Chuck will be fine. And if this doesn't work out, well, Sarah was willing to take him back after he dated Lou, so...' Devon placed a glass of wine in front of Ellie, then, stroking her hair, he leaned over and placed a kiss on her brow.

'I'll get going, then...' Morgan said, helping himself to another handful of nachos. 'If I track Chuck down, I'll tell him he needs to talk to you.' With uncharacteristic tact, he left Ellie and Devon to their dinner, letting himself out through the front door without even asking to take some of the casserole with him.

He crossed the courtyard quickly, and knocked at Casey's door. Although the evening was starting to get dark, there were no lights on.

'Chuck?' Morgan called quietly. 'Chuck! I know you're in there! Come on, man, open up!' He knocked again, then attempted to peer through the spy hole. 'C'mon, Chuck, Ellie's freaking out.'

The door opened.

#

Chuck stood in the doorway, hair touseled, a day's growth of beard on his cheeks. Bare-footed and with a red flush of stubble-burn across his chin and down his neck, it was impossible to mistake how he had been spending his day off.

Morgan raised his eyebrows. 'Can I come in? Just for a minute?'

Chuck glanced off to one side, then nodded. 'Hi, buddy,' he said, stepping aside to let his friend enter. 'So, what can I do for you?'

Morgan looked around at Casey's apartment, spotting the model planes on the mantelpiece below the flat screen tv, the twin computers set up at the desk at the back of the living room, the two plates, dinner half-finished, sitting on the coffee table. And one very large and scowling John Casey, dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt, standing right beside the door with his arms folded across his chest. Also barefoot and with a touch of stubble-burn of his own, Morgan noted with interest.

'Hi John,' he said, resolutely upbeat. 'How's the training going?'

Casey growled.

'Right, okay, don't ask, don't tell, huh?' Morgan crossed his own arms, not at all defensively, and turned to Chuck. 'Congratulations aside, I just came over to let you know that Ellie's freaking out right now. She thinks you're just sitting here on your own in the dark.'

'You didn't tell her John's here, did you?' Chuck asked anxiously.

'No, man. I got your back, just like always.' He turned back to Casey, refusing to be intimidated. 'And in case you hadn't figured it out yet, that means I've got your back too.'

'Thanks, Morgan. That means a lot to me,' Chuck said, sitting on the arm of the couch. With a wince, he hastily moved to the seat.

'So what're you going to tell her about all this?' When Chuck didn't reply, Morgan stared at him incredulously. 'You have to tell her something, dude! She's your sister! Ellie practically raised you. You owe her!'

Chuck sighed. 'I know, Morgan! You don't have to tell me. But I can't stay away just to make Ellie happy.'

'You might have to,' Casey said, crossing to sit beside Chuck. When the young man looked at him, the hurt evident on his face, Casey put one large hand on his knee. 'Chuck, I don't want to cause difficulties for you at home. And I'm supposed to be elsewhere.'

'But...' Frustrated, Chuck stood. 'Fine. I'll go see Ellie.'

'Are you serious?' Morgan moved to stand in front of the door, one hand raised. 'You can't go see her now! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?'

'No, why?'

Casey grinned in a way that made Chuck blush and Morgan clear his throat uncomfortably. 'The hobbit's right. You can't go over there looking like that.'

'Like what?' Chuck ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it standing even more on end.

'Like I spent the past twenty-four hours fucking you into the mattress,' Casey smirked.

'Whoa, dude! I don't need to know!' Morgan put his hands over his ears as Chuck flushed bright red. 'But he's right. You do look like... like that.'

'For one thing, it wasn't the entire twenty-four hours, and for another, did you forget when I-'

'Dude!' Morgan said loudly. 'Seriously, I have your back but... Oh, now I can't even use that phrase any more!'

'So what am I supposed to tell her, Morgan? John? Huh?' Chuck looked from one to the other, from his best friend to his lover. 'What about when I go home? I'm pretty sure I can't hide out in my room, since she didn't let me get away with that kind of behavior even when I was a teenager.'

'Give me half an hour,' Morgan said, snapping his fingers. 'I'll go home, call Ellie, tell her you were waiting for me. You spent the day at the beach, you brought takeout, we're going to catch up on a little quality game time. That way you've got until the end of your shift tomorrow before you have to see her face to face. You give her a call in an hour, tell her you grabbed a shower, say whatever else you need to. But Chuck, promise me you'll tidy yourself up a bit before you come into work, huh? I think Jeff's planning on giving John here a dossier of your infidelities while he's been 'away'.'

For a moment, Chuck and Casey stared at Morgan, speechless. Then Casey nodded approvingly. 'Good thinking, Grimes.'

'Wow, Morgan, that... that would actually work,' Chuck said admiringly. 'Thank you.'

'What are best friends for?' Morgan nodded. 'But you owe me. An evening of _Call of Duty_. Sizzling shrimp. Say, Wednesday?'

'I'm all yours,' Chuck said with a heartfelt sigh of relief. 'Thanks again, buddy.'

'No problem. See you tomorrow.' With that, Morgan was gone.

'Not all Grimes', I hope,' Casey rumbled, amused.

Chuck laughed. 'Okay, mostly his. For the evening. In a platonic way.'

Casey smiled.

#

When Sarah pulled up at the curb in her Porsche the next morning, Chuck was waiting. Dressed in his Nerd Herd uniform, clean shaven, he was leaning against the gate, flicking through tracks on his iPod.

'Hey,' Sarah said, leaning over to open the door. 'Good day off?'

Chuck slid into the seat, grinning. 'Yeah, it was, actually.'

She pulled away from the curb, merging smoothly into the morning traffic. 'So? How are things with Casey?'

His grin got even wider. 'Going well, I think.'

'When I speak with the General later today, I think I should tell her we're breaking up,' Sarah said, glancing over at Chuck. '

'I thought we were going to wait until Casey was back at work?'

'With all due respect for your acting ability, Chuck, I think it's getting pretty obvious I'm not your girlfriend,' Sarah said gently.

'Oh.' Chuck looked at her, eyes wide, nervously watching for her reaction.

'It's okay, Chuck. It's nice to see you looking happy.' The smile Sarah gave him was small but genuine. 'I don't think the General will have a problem with it, since you aren't trying to date a civilian.'

'As long as it's not going to cause trouble for Casey,' Chuck said. 'I'd hate for him to be reassigned.'

Sarah shook her head. 'I very much doubt the General would reassign Casey. He's one of the NSA's top agents, and you're their top priority. I'm sure she'll see that this is the best thing for keeping you safe.'

'Thanks, Sarah.' Chuck said as they pulled up outside the Buy More.

'Let me know if you flash on anything.'

'I'm hoping for a boring, flash-free day.' Chuck kissed Sarah on the cheek and hopped out of the car. 'I'll see you later.'

#

All morning, the _Buy More_ had a steady trickle of customers with faulty phones, laptops and iPods, enough that every time Jeff, Lester and Anna hung around the Nerd Herd desk, Chuck could ignore them. But that meant it was lunchtime before he got a chance to talk with Morgan.

He walked into the break room to find the Nerd Herd trio waiting for him, trying their best to appear nonchalant. Morgan was seated at one of the tables eating a sandwich.

'Hey guys,' Chuck said, pulling his own sandwich out of the fridge. 'Are you loitering here when you should be out on the sales floor for any particular reason, or were you just wanting to find out the intimate details of my love life?'

'Love life,' Jeff said, looking sideways at Lester, who nodded emphatically.

'Sarah and I broke up. That's it.'

'Wow,' Lester said, eyes wide. 'Are you really ready to take your relationship with Casey public?'

'Guys, I'm not dating anyone. Seriously. Now why don't you guys go do some work for a change while I talk with my best buddy here, huh?' Chuck sat down opposite Morgan.

'Chuck, you know you can always confide in me, right?' Anna purred, moving to lean over Morgan's shoulder.

'Thank you Anna,' Chuck said, shifting a little further away from her. 'I appreciate the offer. I do need to talk to Morgan, though.'

Pouting, Anna retreated with Jeff and Lester in tow, leaving Morgan and Chuck alone.

'So, good night?' Morgan asked, taking a sip of his grape soda.

'Thank you for covering for me with Ellie,' Chuck said. 'I really appreciate it. She sounded a lot happier when I spoke with her.'

'She'll be fine once she gets a chance to see you guys together,' Morgan nodded sagely. 'She just needs to let go of her dream of Sarah as her sister-in-law.'

'I suppose so,' Chuck sighed.

'You finally broke up for good, huh?'

Chuck leaned back in his chair. 'Yeah, we did.'

'Is she okay with it?'

'I'm not sure, but she's glad she doesn't have to cover for how I feel about John any more.' Chuck bit into his sandwich.

'How long have you been into him, anyway? I'm just curious, you don't have to answer,' Morgan said, stealing Chuck's pickle slice.

'Honestly? I'm not sure. I suppose I've been aware of him ever since he started working here. He's just so...' Chuck trailed off.

'Hulking?' Morgan supplied.

'I was going to go with physical,' Chuck smiled. 'Over the last few months, though, I've gotten, not comfortable with him, exactly, but...'

'But he's always around?'

Chuck looked quizzically at his best friend. 'Yeah, he's always around. And now suddenly he's not and I miss him being here.'

'Gotta say, I'm not missing being growled at. And pushed over. Or into boxes. But yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from,' Morgan conceded.

'Are you okay with this?' Chuck asked anxiously. 'I kinda thought you'd freak out too.'

'Chuck! Buddy!' Morgan punched him lightly on the shoulder. 'You have to give me more credit than that! Does our history mean nothing to you? I was with you when you wanted to see _Batman_ four times in a row, remember? Questioning your sexuality is nothing new.'

'The costume design was excellent for its time,' Chuck protested. 'And you made me go see _Days of Thunder_ as I recall.'

'And for that I wholeheartedly apologize,' Morgan said gravely. 'Dude, you're my very best friend. So you're hitting it with a guy who could snap me in two with one hand? So what? If you're happy, I'm happy. And lovely as the delightful Ms Walker is, I suspect John will be a lot more handy with a gun.'

'What?' Chuck stared at Morgan.

'Just think of it - the three of us against _LargeMart_! _Unreal Tournament_! With my maps and our combined reflexes? They won't know what's hit them.' Morgan grinned.

'I'll... let John know,' Chuck said, patting his friend on the shoulder. 'Right, I'd better get back to work before those three cause too much chaos.'

'Catch you later,' Morgan said, holding up his fist. Chuck bumped knuckles with him, then went back to his shift.


	6. Chapter 6

As the week wore on, Casey was careful not to leave any more love bites on Chuck. At least, not any place above his collarbones. Chuck spent his nights sneaking out to be with the agent and his days trying not to grin too much. His colleagues found new ways to amuse themselves even when Sarah came over to meet Chuck for lunch. Ellie, once she had invited Sarah over for dinner and seen for herself how much easier things were between Chuck and his ex-girlfriend, allowed herself to be mollified a little. And Morgan, buoyed up by an evening of quality buddy time and sizzling shrimp, had no complaints even when Chuck spent the next five evenings in a row over at Casey's apartment.

In fact, the only person not entirely happy with things was Casey himself.

'Can't sleep, huh?' Chuck sat on the stairs, watching Casey pace the living room.

'What gave it away?' the big man growled. 'I need to get out of here, go for a run. Maybe shoot something.'

'This from the man who spent a month walled into one room in the Soviet Embassy in Seoul?' Chuck yawned.

Casey scowled. 'That was different.'

'I know. You didn't have me to tire you out.' Chuck grinned. When Casey didn't say anything, he sighed. 'Okay, John. Tell you what, how about I take a couple of days off, tell Big Mike I need a break? We could drive up into the hills, go camping, do a little hiking? You could maybe even do some shooting.'

Casey stopped and turned, looking at the young man in surprise. 'That's a good idea. Get Sarah to run it past the General first, though.'

'All right, I'll ask her in the morning. Now are you going to come back to bed so I can at least try to wear you out?' Chuck regarded his lover with exasperated amusement.

'Mm,' Casey rumbled, letting Chuck take his hand and lead him back to bed. Later, lying in the darkness watching the slim shadowed figure sleep, Casey allowed himself a tiny flash of hope that maybe they had some kind of a future together. It was surprisingly hard to squash it back down again, and dawn was just creeping in around the curtains before he managed to drop off to sleep.

#

'No, absolutely not,' General Beckman said.

'What? Why?' Chuck asked, frowning.

'We need to be able to call on you at any time. Terrorists and criminals don't put their plans on hold just because you want to go camping,' the General said reprovingly.

'You know the last time I had a vacation?' Chuck said, a stubborn look on his face that bore more than a passing resemblance to one of Casey's expressions. 'Eighteen months ago. Before you guys came along and derailed my entire life. And I can't take two days to go camping? It's not like I'm going to be off the radar, is it? Casey's agreed to spend part of his vacation going with me to work on our cover.' He stared mulishly at the General, who frowned at him through the flat screen. 'I need a break.'

The General sighed. 'Very well, Mister Bartowski. You may go, but you are to travel no more than an hour away from here and Major Casey will have to take strict precautions to ensure your safety. Agent Walker, I'll need you to provide surveillance. I'll have a field team on standby, just in case.' She cut the connection.

'Just in case of what, Sarah?' Chuck asked, turning to the woman in question.

Sarah pulled on her _Orange Orange_ apron. 'Just in case someone tries to snatch you. Or in case something comes up here and we need your abilities as the Intersect.'

Chuck sighed. 'Fine.'

#

Big Mike was easier to convince. 'You want two days off, Bartowski? Why, did someone die?'

'No! No, I just need a break,' Chuck protested, leaning against the doorframe of Big Mike's office.

'Fine. Be back on Friday morning. I need you here so I can go fishing,' the manager snapped.

'No problem,' Chuck said, escaping with a sigh of relief.

#

Leaving a note for Ellie and Devon, Chuck dug out his sleeping bag, PSP and a couple of games. Adding a change of clothes, a light jacket, a pair of hiking boots and a battered copy of _Dune_ to the pile, he stuffed it into a rucksack and headed over to Casey's apartment.

Casey greeted him with an impatient grunt, taking his rucksack from him and emptying out the contents to check through them.

'Dune and a PSP, but no torch, first aid kit or food? Figures,' he frowned.

'I thought you'd have that covered,' Chuck grinned. 'So where are we going?'

'Since we have to stay close to base, I thought we might as well head up to the Cogswell Reservoir. It's about thirty miles from here and it's pretty deserted, but there's a campsite and some good trails for hiking.'

Chuck smiled as Casey's evident need to be outside already contrasted with the methodical way in which he repacked the rucksack, adding things from a small stack of things piled on the table.

Casey continued, 'And if we need backup, or have to get out of there in a real hurry, there just happens to be a helipad fairly close by.'

'Oh, okay,' said Chuck, surprised. 'Wow, it ticks all the boxes on the secret spy retreat, doesn't it?'

'Pay attention, Chuck,' Casey reprimanded. Gesturing to a small case, he said, 'This is a satellite phone.' He opened it, and waited while Chuck flashed on it. 'You okay?'

'Yeah,' Chuck said, shaking his head. 'A little warning next time, please?'

Casey nodded. 'You know how to use it?'

'I think so. You fold out this bit here into a dish, connect up this cable...' Chuck's fingers moved deftly over the equipment. 'Bingo!' He looked up with a smile as the phone beeped its connection to a satellite signal. 'Ready to phone home.'

'Good.'

'Anything else I should know about?'

Casey patted another case. 'There are a couple of pistols in here, with ammunition. There's also a flare gun, but try not to use it.'

'Don't want to give away our position, huh?'

'No, idiot. At this time of year the forest is tinder-dry. I don't want you starting any fires.' The warmth in Casey's tone made up for the insult.

'Right. Got it,' Chuck grinned. 'So, are you ready to go?'

Casey nodded. 'You'll have to load the car yourself. I'll meet you on the corner in fifteen minutes. Here.' He handed Chuck the keys to his car.

'Okay!' Chuck grinned manically, picked up a couple of bags and darted out of the door.

Casey stared after him for a moment, then shook his head fondly. Softly he murmured, 'Idiot,' once more then he headed upstairs to make his unobtrusive exit from the building.

#

The drive up into the hills took under an hour, but with each passing mile Chuck could see the tension leaving Casey, the set of his shoulders becoming more relaxed as the dusk began to draw in. He watched the big man drive, handling the vehicle with ease through the twists and bends of the road as it wound through the hills. Occasionally he glanced over at Chuck, just making sure that the young man was okay, but otherwise Chuck studied the agent's profile.

Eventually, Casey broke the silence. 'What?' he asked bluntly. 'Did I grow a second head?'

'No, it's nothing,' Chuck replied softly. 'I was just enjoying the chance to look at you.'

'You might as well look at the view since we're out here,' Casey grunted, but his smile belied his words and Chuck kept on watching him rather than the forest around them.

They pulled onto the campsite and Casey picked a spot well away from the couple of tents which were all that were pitched at the site. He set up the tent, barking instructions at Chuck, and shortly they were stowing some of their gear inside it.

When Casey began preparing a fire pit to use the tiny gas burner in, Chuck settled down on the ground beside him. 'I thought you'd want to go stretch your legs,' he said. 'Work off some of that energy?'

Casey shook his head. 'It's getting too dark for that. But while you heat these, I'll go set up the perimeter and check in with Sarah.'

'What is it?' Chuck took the foil-wrapped packages that Casey handed him.

'Field rations,' Casey shrugged. 'They were the best I could do at short notice. I think they're beef stew.'

'I'm sure they'll taste delicious,' Chuck said, opening them into the little metal pan that sat over the gas stove. 'Just be sure to be back in ten minutes. You don't want to miss my gourmet cooking!'

Casey snorted, leaving him to it.

Chuck took his time, looking around at the campsite. The air was clear, the sky deepening from a rim of red and gold on the mountains around them through to true night overhead. The last calls of diurnal birds finding their roosts sounded from trees around the site, but apart from the cicadas, the campsite was quiet. A breath of wind rattled a few twigs, and the beef stew began to bubble. Chuck stirred it with a spoon and smiled, feeling himself relax with every deep breath of smog-free air.

'That done yet?'

With a yelp, Chuck jumped, almost knocking over the pan.

'How do you do that?' he asked, looking up into the agent's amused face.

'Training and practice,' Casey said, sitting down beside Chuck. 'What, did you think I got to be a Major by sitting on my ass?'

'No, I suppose not,' Chuck said, turning off the gas burner and dividing the meal between two tin bowls. He handed one to Casey and stuck a spoon in the other. 'I don't actually know how you got to be a Major.'

Casey raised an eyebrow. 'You mean with everything sitting in your head, you haven't flashed on my dossier?' He sounded genuinely surprised.

Chuck shook his head. 'Sorry to disappoint you. The only times I've flashed on you have been for specific reasons. Some of which you've told me never to mention ever again.'

Casey grunted, looking down at his food.

'I'm sorry,' Chuck offered softly. 'Do you... do you still miss Ilsa?'

'I don't do regrets either,' Casey said. Looking up at Chuck again, he dropped his spoon into his bowl and reached out, putting a hand on the young man's knee. 'I can't afford to. They almost got us both killed. So no, I don't miss Ilsa.'

'As I recall, the almost getting killed was actually that Russian mobster pushing us out of the window.' Chuck put a hand over Casey's. 'It was kind of exhilarating in a sheer terror kind of way. I can almost see why people take up extreme sports.'

Casey leaned over and kissed Chuck lightly. 'Terror gets old real fast. I'd rather shoot the bad guys and go home at the end of the day.'

'No arguments here, big guy.' Chuck kissed him back.

As soon as they finished eating, Casey wiped out their bowls and the pan, made sure everything was stowed neatly, then crawled into the tent, where Chuck was waiting for him.

Chuck had pushed the two groundmats together and inflated the single mattresses. Zipping their sleeping bags together down one side, he had spread them out over the mattresses and was lying there, naked, waiting for the agent to join him.

Casey grinned, stopping in the entrance to admire the young man's long, slim legs and slender body. 'You don't get out in the sun much, do you?' he smiled.

'Nope.' Chuck grinned. 'I hear it can cause nerds to spontaneously combust and I thought I'd better not take the chance.'

'Mm,' Casey nodded approvingly, rapidly shedding his t-shirt and getting to work on his boots. 'I'd hate to have to tell the General you ended up a pile of cinders.' Stripping off his trousers and underpants in one swift move, despite the tent's confines, he added, 'Besides, if you got all crispy, I couldn't do this.'

Crawling up the mattresses over Chuck, he covered the young man's body with his own and kissed him until Chuck was whimpering and writhing underneath him.

'You want something?' he rumbled, pulling back a little before sucking at Chuck's earlobe.

'Yes! Gaah!' Chuck panted, gripping Casey's shoulders tightly. Making a superhuman effort to gather his wits, he gasped out, 'You! In me right now!'

'Yessir,' Casey growled, amused. Fishing in the pocket at the side of the tent, he quickly produced a condom and sheathed himself it it. Lubricant followed, and as Casey's fingers slid inside him, Chuck cried out, spreading his knees so that the older man could push deeper inside him.

Casey moved his hand slowly inside Chuck until the young man opened his eyes again and pleaded for more.

'I need you! Please, Casey, just fuck me! Please!'

Relenting, Casey withdrew, rapidly replacing his fingers with his erection. He started to push in just as slowly, but with a cry, Chuck thrust upwards, burying the older man inside him.

Panting, the men gazed at each other, blue eyes locked with brown. Then Casey moved, rolling his hips back and thrusting hard into Chuck's tight heat. He set a fast pace, but Chuck met him thrust for thrust, never once breaking eye contact. Casey worked his forearms under Chuck's shoulders, holding him close. In answer, Chuck hung onto Casey's shoulders, barely giving them room to breathe. With a growl, Casey closed the last fraction of a gap, claiming Chuck's mouth in a savage kiss. Greedily, Chuck kissed him back, Casey's mouth a lifeline. Chuck wrapped his legs around the older man's waist and on the next powerful thrust, his eyes rolled back in his head as Casey found the young man's prostate. He held on tightly as, muscles clenching, his orgasm crashed over him, followed almost immediately by Casey's own bellow of release as the older man pulsed inside him.

Relaxing his hold a little, Chuck clung to his lover. The sound of their ragged breathing was all he could hear over the pounding of his heart.

'Wow,' he whispered unsteadily with a shaky grin.

Casey lifted his head and smiled. 'Yeah, wow,' he agreed, then kissed Chuck on the nose. 'You have to let me go,' he pointed out, trying unsuccessfully to pull back.

'Nope.' Chuck planted a kiss on Casey's chin. 'Not a chance.'

'No?' The agent's warning tone was belied by the twinkle in his eye.

Chuck wrapped his arms and legs around Casey a little tighter. 'Not happening, big guy,' he grinned.

'We'll see about that.' Casey ran his fingers down Chuck's ribs. The young man twitched and squirmed.

'No fair, John! No tickling!' Chuck laughed, writhing underneath the big man.

Casey's eyes darkened as he began to grow hard again. 'You keep saying no,' he rumbled. 'But something tells me you're enjoying it.' He brushed a thumb over one of Chuck's nipples, and Chuck's giggles turned into a gasp.

Chuck felt his penis stirring as Casey began to move gently inside him. 'For an old man, you recover fast,' he teased.

'Don't they say you're only as young as the guy you feel?' Casey growled, bending his head to nip at Chuck's collarbone.

'That's... so... cheesy!' Chuck's voice rose to a squeak as Casey thrust hard.

'I could always stop,' Casey threatened, pulling back only to thrust in deep again.

'No! Oh, god...' Chuck let his head fall back as Casey licked his way to the pulse point at the base of his throat and bit softly. Moving together, the younger man wrapped around the older, the agent buried inside the asset, they lost all track of time, breathing each other's breath, lost in each other's eyes. Finally, almost gently, Chuck came again, pulling Casey over the edge with him.

'Okay, I'll let go,' Chuck murmured eventually, rubbing his cheek against that of the older man.

Casey withdrew to dispose of the condom, tossing Chuck a sock to clean off his stomach with, then laid back down, pulling the young man into an embrace. 'Never let go,' he said roughly, and Chuck, pulling the sleeping bags together around them, nodded.

'Never.'


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning dawned clear and even a touch chilly, but it quickly became apparent that it was going to be warm later on. Chuck and Casey dressed and ate quickly, then, with backpacks that held the usual gear for a day's hiking in the mountains along with non-standard items such as guns, ammunition, gps tracking and the satellite phone, they set off along the trail.

The path rose steeply, and by mid-morning, breathing hard, they reached the shady pool into which a small waterfall plunged.

'Fancy a dip?' Casey grinned.

'Oh man, that's going to be cold,' Chuck said, eyeing the pool dubiously.

Casey placed his rucksack carefully beside a boulder then rapidly stripped off.

'But on second thoughts...' Chuck said, staring openly at Casey's impressively muscled body. 'I'm sure it's not that cold.' He pulled off his t-shirt and kicked off his shoes.

Casey waded in, then ducked under the surface, re-emerging under the waterfall itself with a roar.

Chuck followed, stopping when he was up to his waist. 'Ahh! On the other hand, it could just be absolutely freezing!'

'Get over here and I'll warm up that skinny butt of yours,' Casey called, grinning.

Shivering, Chuck did as he was told. When he got to within an arm's length of Casey, the big man pulled him close to stand with him under the waterfall. The agent was standing on a submerged boulder, and the water only came up to their chests. In order to keep his balance, Chuck had to stand toe to toe with the older man, wrapping an arm around him, and Casey wasted no time at all in kissing him, hands slipping round to massage his bottom.

With water pounding down around them, he sipped at the young man's lips before deepening the kiss, dipping into the heat inside. Chuck closed his eyes and held on, the warmth of Casey's body where it pressed against his making a delicious contrast with the chill of the water around him.

Then Chuck was spluttering and gasping: splashing back to the surface, he caught sight of Casey, a wicked grin on his face, turning to watch him from the other side of the pool.

'You pushed me!' Chuck shouted, wiping the water out of his eyes. His heart leapt as he saw Casey break into an honest-to-goodness laugh.

For the next few minutes, Chuck splashed after Casey, failing to catch him until the big man turned with surprising agility and ducked him under the water again. Finally, laughing and dripping, they emerged back onto the bank to dry themselves off with a tiny travel towel, which led to more joking around as Casey snapped the towel across the top of Chuck's thighs as he bent to pick up his boxer shorts and Chuck tried and failed to get revenge.

They were only just dressed again when a middle-aged couple walked past followed by a couple of teenaged girls. They called out a greeting and kept going down the mountain.

Chuck grinned at Casey, who watched them go with suspicion, one hand on the pistol hidden in his bag. When they were out of sight, he hustled Chuck on up the mountain, and they hiked for another couple of hours before stopping for lunch.

#

They returned to the campsite late afternoon, dusty and happy. Chuck flopped to the ground in front of the tent.

'I think my legs are going to fall off,' he grinned.

Casey grunted, prowling around the car and tent, checking for any signs of disturbance, then busied himself getting out more field rations and a couple of beers.

'Since you're down there, you can stir dinner again,' he smiled.

'Does that involve moving?' Chuck asked.

'Your arm. That's it.' Casey handed him the field rations and a beer. 'I'm going to report in to Walker.'

'We're on vacation!' Chuck protested. 'You aren't on the clock now, big guy, so why do you have to check in?'

'Because I said I would. And if I don't, we'll have that team swarming all over here, and that'll be the end of our vacation,' Casey said, opening the car door. Sitting sideways on the back seat, he used the cover of the door to surreptitiously assemble the satellite phone and called in.

Chuck set up the little camping stove in the fire pit again and set about heating up dinner. 'Chili?' he asked and Casey nodded.

They spent the evening playing cards and chatting until the night wrapped them around each other.

The next morning, Casey had to drag Chuck out of the tent.

'Ow, ow, ow!' Chuck complained as the big man lifted him to his feet.

'Stretch those legs, Chuck. You'll feel better once you get those muscles warmed up.'

'I feel like a ninety-year old,' the young man complained, hobbling around in a circle. 'I can't even remember the last time I spent a day hiking, and now I know why!' He turned, catching sight of Casey's expression. 'You're laughing at me! I'm in pain and you're laughing at me! You're a heartless man!'

In two strides, Casey was in front of him. Putting a hand on Chuck's shoulder, he gazed intently into his eyes. 'Not any more. I thought my heart died with Ilsa, but it was just buried. You found it.' He pulled the young man into an embrace, kissing him fiercely.

Coming up for air, Chuck stared at the agent, looking slightly dazed. 'Finders keepers?' he asked and Casey laughed.

With another brief kiss, the big man said, 'Yeah. Finders keepers. Now stretch those legs while I make breakfast.'

Chuck did as he was told, a happy smile breaking out every time he looked over at Casey.

#

Before setting out for the day, they packed up most of their things into the car, leaving only the tent to strike later. This time they headed in the other direction round the reservoir. Finding a sheltered stretch of lakefront to stop for lunch, they spent a couple of hours lying in the sunshine, talking and kissing. Casey spent an hour trying to teach Chuck how to skim stones across the blue expanse, but eventually it was time to head back to the campsite.

With regret, they packed up the tent and stowed it in the car. 'Fancy getting something to eat on the way back?' Casey asked, climbing into the driver's seat.

'Yeah, that'd be nice.'

'Okay then.'

They drove back out of the hills and stopped at a diner on the way back into the city. Sitting together in a booth, they ate mostly in silence.

'I don't want to go back home,' Chuck confessed as he finished up the last of a slice of cherry pie. 'I want to spend tonight with you.'

Casey put down his fork and took Chuck's hand. 'You can stay if you like.'

'I suppose, after I've seen Ellie. But I mean I don't want to have to sneak out and back in. I know you do it for a living, and goodness knows I'm getting used to it, but I want to be able to be honest at least about one of the important things in my life.' Chuck said, wiping a crumb from the corner of Casey's mouth with his thumb.

'You can hold out two days, Chuck,' Casey said gruffly. 'Or I can come back early.'

'Can you?' Chuck brightened.

'Tell them maneuvers ended early? Yeah.' A grin flashed across his face. 'I can always tell Big Mike the CO got shot. Accidentally.'

'You make that sound so... deliberate,' Chuck said, his eyes darkening with desire. 'You think that'll work?'

'Big Mike doesn't care what I tell him, and I don't care what the rest of the staff think. So yeah.' Casey said, his eyes dropping to Chuck's lips.

A discreet cough had them both jumping apart. 'More coffee?' the waitress asked.

Casey glanced back at Chuck. 'Just the check, please.'

#

They made it back to the apartment complex in record time, with Casey jumping out a block away to make his way back into the building, leaving Chuck to park and unload the car.

As Chuck carried the last armload of camping gear back through the courtyard to Casey's apartment, his own door opened and Ellie rushed out.

'Chuck! I was so worried!' She flung her arms around him.

'Um... Ellie? It's not that I'm not pleased to see you, but I do need to put this down before I drop it,' Chuck said. Ellie let him go for just long enough that he could dump the armload inside the doorway and pull the door closed again. Then she grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the fountain.

'What's up?' Chuck asked as she pushed him to sit down.

'You never go camping! You hate camping! And you didn't even bother calling - you left a note! I half-thought John had come back and kidnapped you!' Ellie hugged him again, and Chuck patted her back awkwardly.

'I'm sorry, Ellie. I just needed to get away for a couple of days. Go somewhere quiet to think things over, you know?' He put his arm around his sister and hugged her tightly. 'Are you that concerned about... about me and John? I don't believe he'd ever hurt me. Honest.' Looking over his sister's head, Chuck saw Casey's blinds twitch.

'It's so unlike you to go somewhere without a computer and a tv at least,' Ellie sniffed.

'I took my PSP,' Chuck offered. 'Which was great until the batteries ran out.'

Ellie gave a watery smile. 'Call me next time you take off into the wilderness, okay? I had no idea where you were. You could have been eaten by bears or fallen off a cliff or anything.'

'It was thoughtless and I'm sorry,' Chuck said. 'Next time I'll call you and let you know where I am. Which will definitely be somewhere with electricity and a tv and a shower.'

'Was it good?' Ellie asked, pulling back and wiping her eyes. 'Where you went?'

'I went up to the Cogswell reservoir. There's a campsite there and some good hiking. Once you get up the first bit of the trail it's pretty deserted.'

'You went hiking?' Ellie asked incredulously. 'Who are you and what have you done with the real Chuck?'

Chuck grinned. 'You know, I could get to enjoy that kind of thing every once in a while. Maybe every couple of years.' He stood, leading his sister back into their flat. 'I thought my legs were going to fall off by the time I got back to the tent. I don't think I've ever walked that far before.'

'Do you want some dinner?' Ellie opened the fridge.

'No thanks, I'm good. I stopped for something on the way back,' Chuck said. 'Look, Ellie, I'm really sorry I worried you. I seem to be doing that a lot lately, but I promise you I'm fine.'

'Really, Chuck?' Ellie asked plaintively. 'I just want you to be happy.'

Chuck nodded. 'I am. I have the best sister in the world, a wonderful best friend and... and I'm in love with an incredible man.'

Gaping at him, Ellie put a hand to her mouth. 'I had no idea! When did this happen?'

Shrugging, Chuck looked round the room. 'I guess I only realized it after John left.'

'What will you do if he doesn't feel the same way about you? I mean, you haven't had chance to talk things through with him, see if he even likes you like that,' Ellie pointed out. 'I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't love you, but I'm aware there are some people in this world who don't.'

Chuck grinned. 'I'm pretty sure he likes me, Ellie. You knew Devon liked you, right?'

'Yes, but that's...'

'Different? Not really,' he shrugged again. 'Ellie, things with John will work out or they won't. Right now I'm pretty hopeful everything's going to be all right. And if it's not, I'll deal with it as and when it happens. There's no point in getting worked up about maybes.' He scratched at the back of his neck. 'You know what, I'm going to go have a shower, because I'm pretty sure I have insects living in my shirt.'

#

Later, after a shower and half a bottle of wine shared with Ellie and Devon over a documentary on conjoined twins, Chuck made his excuses and went to bed. He brushed his teeth, locked his bedroom door and slipped out of the window. A few strides brought him to Casey's door, which opened as he reached it. One strong arm yanked him inside, and then he was being pressed back against the wall, Casey's mouth on his, hands squeezing his buttocks, one powerful leg pressed between his.

He moaned into Casey's mouth, wrapping his arms around the agent's neck, kissing him as though his life depended on it. Casey slid one hand around to Chuck's groin, rubbing him to full hardness.

'Thought you were never going to get over here,' Casey rumbled, taking the opportunity to nuzzle Chuck's ear.

The young man shivered. 'I'm here now,' he said, turning his head to recapture Casey's lips.

With a growl, Casey flicked open the button on Chuck's jeans and slipped his hand inside. Chuck gasped as the agent's strong fingers curled around his erection and began to move. With his other hand, Casey pushed Chuck's jeans down over his hips. As Chuck's breathing grew more ragged, the big man dropped to his knees. Holding Chuck's slim hips in place against the wall, Casey took him in his mouth.

Chuck's head fell back against the wall as Casey enveloped him, sucking hard, and began to move his head up and down Chuck's length. Chuck panted, resting a hand on Casey's head as the older man swirled his tongue over the sensitive ridge around the head of his shaft.

'Oh god,' Chuck moaned. 'That's... ohhh....'

With one hand, Casey cupped his testicles, massaging them gently, as with the other he gripped the base of Chuck's penis and began once more to pump up and down.

'John!' With a strangled cry, Chuck came, pulsing into Casey's hot mouth. The agent swallowed, sucking more gently until until the young man softened. Then he stood and as Chuck's legs trembled, he picked the young man up, carrying him with ease through the living room and up the stairs to the bedroom.

#

The next morning, tired but grinning from a night of interrupted sleep in Casey's bed, Chuck sneaked back through the window into his room in time to turn the alarm clock off when it buzzed. He stripped down to his boxer shorts and grabbed a towel. Showering quickly, he changed into his Nerd Herd uniform of charcoal-gray trousers and short-sleeved white shirt and went through for breakfast.

'Someone's in a good mood,' Ellie said, smiling.

'Yeah, I guess I am,' Chuck said, fixing himself a bowl of cereal.

'Looks like that little trip of yours did just the trick,' Devon said before drinking half a glass of something greenish-purple.

Chuck nodded. 'I'm starting to think you have a point about outdoor activities.'

'Does that mean you're coming white-water rafting next month?' Devon asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Heh, no, I think I'll work my way up a little more gently. You know, camping, hiking, a little swimming, then way, way in the future, white-water rafting. Right before paragliding, surfing and base jumping.' Chuck smiled. 'Thank you for the extremely generous invitation, though.'

'Well, whenever you're ready, just say the word, bro,' Devon said seriously. 'I'll be happy to organize a trip.'

'Right now, the only trip I'm making is the one to work,' Chuck sighed. 'Anyone catch the traffic report yet?'

Ellie shook her head. 'Not so far.' She stood up to get more coffee.

There was a knock at the door. 'I'll get it,' Ellie said, crossing the room. 'I wonder who that is... Oh!' She opened the door wide. 'Hi, John,' she said awkwardly. 'I, uh, I thought you weren't due back for another couple of days?'

Casey, dressed in his regular Greenshirt attire, filled the doorway. 'I wasn't supposed to be, but my commanding officer got hurt on a live-fire exercise, so it was cut short. I thought I'd come see if Chuck wanted to carpool.'

'I hope your CO wasn't hurt too badly,' Ellie said, eyeing Casey warily. 'When did you get back? I didn't notice any lights over at your place.'

'After midnight,' Casey said. 'I was trying to be quiet, didn't want to wake the neighbors.' Looking over at Chuck, he added, 'You ready to go?'

Chuck swallowed hastily. 'Yeah, sure, big guy. Just let me get my keys.' He headed for his room, swiftly followed by Ellie.

'Are you going to talk with him?' she asked. 'Because Devon and I can always get out of the way, give you some space.'

'Thanks for the offer, Ellie, but I'm sure we'll get chance to talk at some point today. If I'm late home, don't get worried, all right?' Chuck reassured his sister, picking up his wallet, phone and keys.

'Okay. Good luck,' Ellie said, giving him a quick hug. 'Let me know how it goes, okay?'

Chuck nodded. 'Thanks, Ellie,' he said, moving back through to the living room. 'Have a great day, guys.' With that, he walked out into the courtyard where Casey was waiting.

'So, how was life in the military?' he asked loudly.

Casey put a hand on his shoulder. 'A lot more organized than the _Buy More_,' he said gruffly, his gaze dropping from Chuck's eyes to his lips.

'Well, we all missed you at work,' Chuck smiled. 'I think Big Mike is planning on never letting you take time off again. I... I missed you.' He gazed back at the older man and unconsciously wet his lips, tongue flicking out to pass over first his top, then his bottom lip. With a grunt, Casey took a step towards Chuck and kissed him hard for just a second before stepping back.

'Come on, or we'll be late,' he said gruffly, and strode out of the courtyard. Chuck stared after him for a moment, then followed, wearing the biggest grin Ellie had ever seen on her brother's face.

Standing just inside the doorway, Ellie leaned against Devon as he put his arms around her. 'Oh my god,' she said. 'Did you see that?'

'Totally awesome,' Devon nodded. 'Totally awesome.'

#

The _Buy More_ was just opening up when Chuck and Casey pulled into the parking lot.

'Your new Nerd Herder should be here this afternoon,' Casey said, locking the car. 'Try not to wreck it.'

'You spoke to the General?' Chuck asked as they strolled towards the doors.

'Yeah, told her I had to come back to maintain my cover,' Casey said, holding open the door for Chuck to go through.

'Was she okay with that? With us?' Chuck asked anxiously.

'She's waiting to see how it pans out,' Casey said, looking around the store. 'Look sharp, Grimes at ten o'clock.'

Morgan came barreling up to Casey talking a mile a minute. 'Hey there, John, good to see you back, man. Big Mike has been kicking our asses over sales these last two weeks. If you could, you know, move a couple of BeastMaster grills today that'd be a big help. Plus that kid, you know, the one with the purple stripe in his hair? He's been back twice and he has those ninja shoplifting skills and we can't catch him at it. I have this gut feeling he's going to be back in today because we just got a shipment in of the latest Tony Hawks game and he has 'skater-boi' written all over him.'

Casey allowed himself to be shepherded over to where Big Mike was assembling the staff. 'I banned that kid,' he said to Morgan, taking his place at one end of the line. 'If he shows up, he won't know what hit him.' He grinned at the prospect of a little violence.

Chuck stood beside Casey, enjoying the big man's presence. Their fingers brushed, and Chuck smiled as Casey gave his hand a brief squeeze. He tuned out Big Mike's briefing , which consisted of a minor rant about selling more and bothering him less. As he dismissed them Big Mike stopped in front of them.

'Casey. Good to see you back. You could use some of that military training to whip these losers into shape.' The manager scowled. 'It's been chaos.'

Casey nodded. 'I'll get right on it,' he said with an evil grin.

#

The store was surprisingly full for a Thursday daytime and the staff were kept busy with a constant stream of enquiries. That didn't stop them watching Chuck and Casey at every opportunity, although the two were kept just as busy and had no time to talk.

In a brief lull close to lunchtime, Anna leaned over the Nerd Herd desk.

'So?' she asked sweetly.

Chuck looked up from a recalcitrant mobile phone.

'What?'

'John Casey's back in town. Early.' She stretched out the word, almost purring. 'Did you welcome your soldier home, salute his flag?'

'I, uh...' Chuck felt his cheeks grow warm. His eyes automatically skipped across the store looking for Casey, who was nowhere in his line of sight.

'Problem?'

Anna laughed as Chuck jumped. 'You have to stop sneaking up on me like that,' the young man complained.

'Time for lunch,' Casey said, looking at Chuck with a heated gaze that made his throat go dry. 'Coming?'

'Anna, you're on the desk.' Chuck said, following Casey towards the front of the store.

'Take your time, guys!' she called after them.

#

Over at _Orange Orange_, Chuck and Casey had to wait until a customer had been served before slipping behind the counter and down to the secret spy base, where Sarah joined them as soon as she had flipped the sign to 'Back in 5 minutes'.

Standing at the top of the stairs, she watched for a moment as Chuck smiled at Casey and the agent laid a hand on his arm briefly before checking quickly through the surveillance feeds.

'How's the cover coming along?' she asked, smiling as she walked down the stairs.

Chuck glanced at Casey and smiled. 'Well, I think,' he said. 'I feel like everyone's been staring at us all morning.'

Casey looked round at Sarah. 'Anything come up, Agent Walker?'

Sarah filled Casey in on everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks, pretending he didn't already know, while Chuck ate his sandwich.

'I'm not officially back until Saturday,' Casey said as they went back upstairs. 'But if anything comes up, I expect you to call me.'

Sarah flipped the sign back to 'Open' and held the door open. She followed them outside and stopped them before they could head back to the _Buy More_.

'Chuck... I'm sorry it didn't work out between us,' she said, pulling him into a hug. She kissed him on the cheek, then let him go. 'I'm glad we can still be friends, though. And you, John...' She tugged the surprised agent down for a hug too. 'You take care of Chuck for me, you hear? Don't break his heart.' When he tried to pull back, she whispered, 'I mean it, John, take care of him. It's okay to let yourself love him.'

Awkwardly, Casey hugged Sarah back. 'Later, Walker,' he said gruffly. 'We'd better get back.'

'Bye, Sarah,' Chuck said with a little smile. She watched as they crossed the parking lot together, shoulders occasionally touching. They belonged together.

#

Entering the _Buy More_ together, Casey placed a hand on the small of Chuck's back, guiding him straight over to the Home Theater room.

'What's up?' Chuck asked as the agent quickly shut the door behind them and pulled the curtains.

'This,' Casey growled, pulling Chuck into a long, hard kiss.

Chuck pressed himself against the older man, meeting Casey's tongue thrust for thrust as the agent's strong hands came up to tangle in Chuck's hair. Chuck clung to Casey's green polo shirt as they devoured each other's mouths. Neither of them noticed the door open a couple of inches, or the hand with a camcorder that appeared between the curtains. They broke apart when the hand disappeared abruptly with a thump and a squawk.

'What was that?' Chuck gasped, looking round dazedly.

'Stay here,' Casey said, reaching for his modified barcode scanner. He whipped back the curtains, revealing Lester sprawled on the floor with Morgan sitting on his chest tugging at the camcorder which Lester refused to relinquish.

'What the hell's going on here?' Casey growled, yanking the door open.

Lester paled as he caught sight of the angry man and Morgan looked round.

'I've got it all under control,' Morgan said, finally pulling the camcorder out of Lester's hands. Getting to his feet he danced backwards away from the prone nerd, hastily switching the camcorder off. 'There's nothing to see, all taken care of!'

Casey's head whipped round just in time to see the bank of tvs go black. With a snarl, he grabbed the front of Lester's shirt, pulling the terrified man to his feet. As he drew his fist back, Chuck threw open the door and dived for his arm.

'No, no, no, don't hit him!' Chuck babbled, hanging onto the big man's elbow.

'He was taping us. With a live feed to the Wall,' Casey growled, eyes not leaving Lester's face.

'And I'm betting he's not going to do that again ever,' Chuck reassured him. 'Right, Lester?'

'R-right!' Lester stammered. 'Never!'

'If you do, I'll make sure they never find your body,' Casey snarled, then let go of Lester's shirt, sending the little man sprawling. He looked across the store, at the customers who were staring curiously at the trio. Just as he took a step forwards, the main door opened and a teenager sauntered in, purple-striped hair standing spiked over the cocky grin on his face. He caught sight of the scowling Greenshirt, froze, then turned and sprinted out of the store.

'At least someone has a sense of self-preservation,' Chuck said, clapping Casey on the shoulder.

The big man grunted disappointedly as they headed for the Nerd Herd desk. As Chuck took his place behind the desk, ignoring the applause from the cluster of Nerds and Greenshirts, Casey leaned in close.

'Seven o'clock, dinner, my place. Don't be late.'

Chuck smiled up at the big man; eyes filled with desire as he gazed at his colleague, agent, handler in all senses of the word: his lover. 'I'll be there.'

Casey bent and dropped the briefest of kisses on Chuck's lips. 'I'll be waiting,' he murmured, then straightened. Chuck watched as he strode off through the store.

Morgan came to stand at Chuck's shoulder, flicking open the camcorder and setting it to play. Wordlessly they watched as a tiny Chuck and Casey kissed soundlessly on the camcorder's screen for a few seconds before the camera jerked back, then, carefully, Morgan deleted the footage.

'Thanks, buddy,' Chuck said gratefully.

'No problem,' Morgan said. 'Just remember, I get to be your best man.'

#

Later that night, curled up around the older man, Chuck relayed Morgan's words.

Casey chuckled. 'Best man, huh?'

'I didn't have the heart to tell him I haven't actually asked you out yet,' Chuck confessed.

'Huh,' Casey said, stroking Chuck's shoulder. 'You were going to ask me?'

Chuck smiled. 'John Casey, would you go out with me? Be my boyfriend as well as the guy who repeatedly saves my life?'

'You mean your ass is mine?' Casey grinned.

'In all senses of the word.' Chuck confirmed.

'Try and stop me,' Casey said, pulling Chuck on top of him, kissing him passionately, and thoroughly claiming Chuck's ass.


End file.
